The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Petroleum, Dr Chol Deng Thon visited Port Sudan refinery and the oil pumping stations|Courtesy

The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Petroleum has said the damaged the pipeline transporting South Sudan’s crude oil via Sudan has been repaired and is operational.

Dr Chol Deng Thon confirmed this upon his visit to Port Sudan refinery and the oil pumping stations on Sunday.

Thon said that the purpose of the visit was to assess the pumping levels and ensure that operations at Station No. 6 of the crude oil pipeline are proceeding smoothly.

Citing the maintenance company, the oil official said the pipeline is now fully operational and ready to resume oil transportation.

According to Sudan’s Minister of Energy and Petroleum Muhyiddin Al-Naeem, his government had officially informed South Sudan of the completed maintenance.

He assured that Sudan is prepared to receive crude oil and that the pumping process could restart shortly.

The pipeline had been out of operation due to damages caused by sabotage during the conflict April 2023.

In response, South Sudan had considered alternative routes for transporting its crude oil, including a potential pipeline through Ethiopia to Djibouti on the Red Sea.

South Sudan has been faced with rapid economic downturn after Sudan’s oil pipeline was damaged in February this year amid the war in the neighboring country.

Since then, South Sudan currency continued to weaken against the dollar as oil represented 98 percent of the country’s revenue.