The first day of the Fifth Edition of the South Sudan Oil & Power Conference (https://bit.ly/3A1hgvV) featured a session of keynotes and presentations that offered an overview of the activities undertaken by operating partners, service companies and explorers in South Sudan’s energy sector. Following keynote presentations by Dr. Chol Deng Thon Abel, Managing Director of Nilepet and Godfrey Moagi, CEO of the Strategic Fuel Fund, the session featured presentations by Joseph Gama, Projects and Facilities Manager for Dar Petroleum Operating Company; Gieth Abraham Dauson, Section Head of Planning for the Greater Pioneer Operating Company; and Eng. Ochan Stephen Lochi, Petroleum and Well Integrity Engineer at the Sudd Petroleum Operating Company. The session featured an additional speech by Miguel Baptista, Managing Director for Central, East, and Southern Africa, Schlumberger.

The discussion, which focused on strategies to uplift South Sudan’s Energy Sector in 2022, was opened by Dr. Abel, who highlighted that South Sudan’s vibrant upstream sector is ripe with business opportunities and is ready to welcome international partners.

“Nilepet’s mission is to enhance the sustainability and growth of the oil and gas industry in South Sudan through effective and efficient exploration, development, production and marketing of the petroleum products while safeguarding the national interest and guaranteeing higher returns for the nation, through social responsibility and an environmentally friendly manner,” stated Dr. Abel.

Speaking under the theme: Gateway to East African Energy, Moagi expressed his optimism for the future of South Sudan in the presence of Ministers, technicians, engineers, and experts who participated in the conference for the purpose of unlocking the country’s exploration frontiers.

“Today, we are talking as if renewable energy can carry the baseload. We are going to have to run parallel systems to make sure we transition effectively,” stated Moagi, adding that, “We need to be mindful of how we move forward, how we transition, and we need to make sure it is at the scale we expect to carry the demand. However, we need to carry on and keep moving.”

A presentation by Dar Petroleum Operating Company, which was headed by Gama, highlighted the company’s vision as the country’s premier operating company within the country, committed to executing all its activities within full compliance to industrially accepted health and safety executive standards.

Additionally, Dauson underlined South Sudan’s Greater Pioneer Operating Company’s commitment to local content within the energy sector, emphasizing its commitment to addressing challenges, sustainable development and growth opportunities within the country’s petroleum sector.

Ushering in a new era of energy growth and economic revitalization, the Sudd Petroleum Operating Company held a presentation, led by Eng. Lochi, outlining its intention to increase production at its Thar Jath field and restart production at the Mala field by 2023, emphasizing its intention to partner with private sector companies to meet production targets.

Miguel Baptista, Managing Director for Central, East, and Southern Africa at Schlumberger held a speech during which he discussed the potential opportunities within South Sudan’s oil field service operations space, making fundamental insights on the importance of accelerating East African energy developments.

“The best way for us to gauge the level of development of a country is by looking at the energy consumption per capita of the country. That is the best proxy we have today to see if a country is developed or developing,” Baptista stated, concluding that, “Going forward, Schlumberger is focusing on our core business, which basically challenges ourselves to keep developing technologies and pioneer within the core oil and gas industries so we can continue to maintain fossil fuels that are sustainable.”