Workers are seen at an oil well at the Toma South oilfield in Ruweng Administrative Area. August 25, 2018. (Photo: REUTERS).

A member of the National Parliament has raised concerns over the timing of the departure of Malaysian oil company Petronas on the heels of an environmental audit report on oilfields which is yet to be released.

Petronas Carigali Nile Limited (PCNL), a subsidiary of Malaysia’s state-owned energy giant Petronas, announced this month that it was withdrawing from South Sudan as part of its long-term investment plan.

The energy firm said the decision was made following two years of divestment initiatives, which started on the same year that South Sudan launched an environmental audit on oil companies.

Petronas confirmed its exit from the country after 24 years of operation just after its potential replacement, UK-based Savannah Energy terminated its planned $1.25 billion deal to acquire the assets in the country.

Aisha Abbas, a lawmaker representing Melut County in Upper Nile State said Petronas’ decision to leave South Sudan before the full findings of an environmental audit on the oil fields are released raises brows.

Aisha said she is wondering how the company will be held accountable after exiting the country.

“My point of information is on the Malaysian Petronas company which left the country and the environmental audit report is not yet out,” she said at a parliamentary sitting.

“If the report comes out negative who will be responsible for the problems we are suffering of in the oil producing areas of Melut, Unity and Panriang.”

In May, the Minister of Environment told the parliament that the environmental audit report on the oilfields was almost complete, but that the contracted companies have withheld the findings due to non-payment of their dues by the government.

The environmental audit was commissioned in 2022 by the Ministries of Petroleum and Environment, which contracted three companies to carry out the assessment.

Environmentalists say South Sudan experienced environmental damage, deforestation, soil and water contamination, and health issues in and around the oil-producing areas.

The civil war that started in 2013-just two years after independence was seen to have prevented the proper management of the environment.

In the past, the Ministry of Petroleum and oil companies came under increased criticism over oil leakages that reportedly contaminated the ecosystem around the oil-producing areas.

Both local and international campaign groups have reported widespread environmental pollution, as chemicals from oil wells are said to have been washed to settlements by floodwaters, leaving animals and people affected.

Reports emerged of women giving birth to deformed babies and stillbirths, and were subsequently confirmed by indigenous community.

In 2015, German human rights and relief organization— Sign of Hope said the health of more than 180,000 people in northern Unity State was at risk due to drinking of water contaminated by the crude oil.

This was after it conducted a scientific study on water quality and contamination in the area.