South Sudan: South Sudan's Oil Revenue Only About $10/barrel

Apr 2, 2015 | Radio Tamazuj
View Original

South Sudan's government is earning only about $10 per barrel of crude oil compared to an international oil price of more than $50. Sources explained that this is because of the quality of the oil, government debts to oil companies, pipeline fees, producer's share and other fees. Oil from South Sudan's Upper Nile fields, known as 'Dar Blend', is considered lower quality than the international benchmark variety, known as North Sea Brent crude, which sells at about $10 more per barrel. This accounts for part of the difference between the international benchmark price and South Sudan's earnings. Another factor is that South Sudan has borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars from oil companies in the form of advance payments for sales of crude oil. These debts are repaid to the companies in the form of deductions from government oil sales.