Photo [Courtesy].

The government has projected a decline in oil production by six thousand barrels per day, due to the depletion of oil wells and the impact of flooding on the oilfields.

The Minister of Finance and Planning, Agak Acuil said the oil production capacity is expected to decline from 156,000 barrels per day to 150,000 per day this year.

Minister Agak, however, said the government aims to generate about 715 billion South Sudan Pounds from the oil revenues and around 100 billion pounds from the non-oil revenue.

“The total oil production is projected at 150,000 barrels per day in the financial year 2022/2023, down from 156,000 barrels per day in the financial year 2021/2022.”

“The projected reduction of six thousand barrels per a day is due to depletion of some oil wells as well as the effect of floods experienced in 2021.”

At the time of independence, oil production in the country stood at over 300,000 barrels per day.

However, the production has now decreased to half of that amount due to a number of factors such as the conflict.

According to the International Crisis Group, the South Sudan government projects that oil production to continue to reduce by half every five years.

This has been attributed to production setbacks, volatile oil prices, instability, and the poor quality of much of the country’s crude oil.

The government predicts the decline in oil production, at a time when oil-producing countries are reaping from the rising energy prices resulting from the Russia-Ukraine war.