South Africa’s Minister of Energy Jeff Radebe announced his country’s plans to invest one-billion U.S. dollars in South Sudan’s oil sector, including in the construction of a refinery, SABC Newsreports.
The South Sudanese oil industry is currently dominated by Asian firms, including the China National Petroleum Corporation and India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.
Reuters reports that the two ministers signed a memorandum of understanding on South Africa taking part in the exploration of several oil blocks.
Radebe said: “When this refinery is complete, it will have the capacity of producing 60,000 barrels of oil per day,” while Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, petroleum minister for South Sudan, said the deal also offers avenues for cooperation in the construction of a pipeline in the south of the country.
