Oil wells at Paloch, in Unity State, resumed pumping crude after a halt of 16 months.
Petroleum and Mining Minister Stephen Dhieu Dau on Sunday pushed the button at Dar Petroleum Operating Company or DPOC Oil Fields in Paloch, marking the official resumption of oil production in Upper Nile.The minister congratulated the people of South Sudan for the oil resumption and thanked the AU, US, Norway and the international community to assist South Sudan and Sudan to sign the cooperation agreements on September 27, last year.
Minister Dhieu said development in the oil fields is the priority of his ministry and the government as a whole.
He promised he would make sure the communities got clean drinking water, hospitals, and schools.
Minister Dhieu announced that on May 24 South Sudan will resume exporting oil through Port Sudan to the international markets.
The minister was accompanied by six ministers, MPs from the National Legislature, members of diplomatic corps and staff from the ministry.
DPOC president Joseph Podtung said the company waited patiently for the resumption of oil prodcution for the last 15 months.
He added that is was very painful but the dream became a reality.
Mr Podtung said DPOC employs more than 1,700 people in Juba and in the oil fields.
China National Petroleum Corporation, Petronas of Malaysia, South Sudan’s Nilepet, SINOPEC of China and Cairo-based Tri-Ocean Energy make up the DPOC consortium.