South Sudan resumes pumping crude from oil field suspended since 2013

South Sudan has resumed pumping 20,000 bpd of crude from Toma South oil field, where production had been suspended since 2013, the Sudanese oil minister Azhari Abdulqader said on Sunday.

Abdulqader told a news conference in Khartoum production at five previously suspended oil fields was expected to reach 80,000 bpd after maintenance work is completed by year-end.

South Sudan’s oil output currently stands at 130,000 bpd and is expected to reach 210,000 bpd by year-end, he added.

A lot of the country’s oil infrastructure was destroyed during the war. A peace deal between president Salva Kiir and Riek Machar has raised hopes of a return to full scale production.

South Sudan’s oil is shipped to international markets via a pipeline through Sudan.