An oil facility in Unity State | File photo

Oil reserves in some producing blocks in South Sudan are declining, the undersecretary in the ministry of petroleum has revealed.

“The reserves in South Sudan are also declining,” said Engineer Awow Daniel Chuang during the oil and power conference last week.

“We know that blocks 1, 2, and 4 and blocks 3 and 7 have already reached their peaks and they are already in decline, ” he said of the Toma south and Melut oil fields.

Currently, oil production in Blocks 3 and 7 have dropped to 103,000 barrels per day, from 120,000.

Blocks 1, 2, and 4 are producing 48,000 barrels per day, down from 53,000 barrels per day.

Block 3 and 7 are operated by DAR Petroleum Operating Company while Toma South field on blocks 1, 2, and 4 are operated by Greater Pioneer Operating Company.

Production has however recently resumed at the Thar Jath field, in Block 5A, at 3,000 barrels per day.

It could reach 8,000 or 10,000 barrels per day by the end of the year, according to the petroleum ministry.

“But still we have a lot of opportunities that we can tap from this because initially, the discovered oil in these places was very huge, but the recovery factors are very poor,” Eng. Awow said.

“These figures give you an idea of opportunities that is still there.”

He suggested increasing the recovery factors at blocks 3 and 7 and blocks 1,2, and 4 to gain the level of oil production.

“If we increase recovery to at least 35 %, then we will see a significant increase in production that can still be tapped. Blocks 1, 2, and 4, can also be increased to 45% which can give us very huge resources,” Eng. Awow explained.

South Sudan is also seeking investments in new blocks that it wants to license to exploration companies.

The ministry of petroleum launched last week its first oil licensing round, placing up to 20,000-kilometer square potential oil blocks up for exploration.

The government says approximately 90 percent of South Sudan’s oil and gas reserves have not been explored.