FILE PHOTO: The Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Deng Dau Deng during the launch of Japanese-funded Water Treatment plant in Juba- Credit: Moses Awan/Eye Radio - March 16, 2023

The South Sudan government said the country’s oil export through Sudan has not been disrupted by the ongoing conflict.

Foreign Minister Deng Dau Deng was addressing online speculations about photos of an alleged burning of crude oil pipeline in Port Sudan.

Dau debunked the photos as fake news, saying there are no official indications that South Sudan’s oil export has been affected by the ongoing conflict.

He also said the Ministry of Petroleum and South Sudanese officials in Port-Sudan have not reported any incident so far.

“On the issue of oil, of course, there are a lot of issues on social media you know some people would want to put some traffic news about the burning of the pipeline but officially we have not got that kind of indication,” Dau said.

“Our Ministry of Petroleum and our people in Port-Sudan have not reported any incident so far and if there’s any such kind of thing.”

South Sudan – a landlocked country, exclusively exports crude oil through Sudan to the Red Sea Port.

In 2021, tribal protests in eastern Sudan disrupted export from South Sudan.

“Of course we would have to see it because this is a lifeline, it is a critical area and we cannot keep quiet if there’s any of that nature, but up to this point we have not seen any incident that has been reported so far.”

There have been growing concerns that South Sudan’s crude oil could be at risk as clashes between the army and a paramilitary ground in Sudan continued for the fourth day.

According to the Oil Price.Com, the fighting could disrupt oil exports from South Sudan, which relies on Sudan proper to get its crude to the market via an oil terminal on the Red Sea.