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South Sudan’s petroleum fields and the lack of skilled oil workers
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By John Garang Ajak
October 3, 2011 — Petroleum is the number one commodity of South Sudan
and it is currently the only source of income so it is sad that South
Sudan remains one of the world‘s most underprivileged and
underdeveloped nations on earth.
According to the UN demographic s and the disputed census of 2008,
South Sudan’s population is estimated at 9 million of which 44% of the
9 million are less than 14 years of age. The remaining 56% are split
in the middle between male and female of age 15-64. Among the adult
age of 15-64 only 27% of the demographic is literate, placing the
country the illiteracy rate at 73%. Nonetheless, the country is
blessed with enormous petroleum reserves but lack of human capital to
develop it.
Given these statistics, should South Sudanese pay for what others do
for them? Could South Sudan ever be ready to undertake petroleum
development? Is the South Sudanese government investing in its human
capital to develop petroleum fields? This piece will not intensely
address the highlighted questions but if interested here are the
natures of South Sudan’s petroleum fields.
Petroleum engineers and Geologists believes that South Sudan’s
petroleum is geologically originated in the Meso-Cenozoic rift basin
accompanied by the formation and development of the Central African
Shear Zone on the pre-Cambrian crystalline and metamorphic basement of
lower relief. According to studies done on the structural and
petroleum geology aspect of Melut and Muglad basin of South Sudan,
three stages of rift development and fracturing has been identified,
stronger in the early Cretaceous and Paleogene and weaker in the Late
Cretaceous.
The source rocks are the Lower Cretaceous lacustrine shales, whereas
reservoirs and seals are both Paleogene and Upper Cretaceous. Dominant
structural styles are large-scale anticlines in the Paleogene
sequences and antithetic normal fault-blocks in the Upper Cretaceous
and Paleogene. Heavy to light crude oils (8.87–61.5° API) and gas have
been discovered in the Paleogene and only light crude oils and gas in
the Upper Cretaceous producing zones. The dominant producer is in the
Melut basin in Unity State, South Sudan is the Paleogene.
The gentle slopes of each sub-basin are favorable areas for petroleum
accumulation and enrichment. Anticlines system of faults within the
Paleogene synrift sequences are the main trap types, whereas the
antithetic fault-blocks of the Upper Cretaceous sequences are
subordinate. On the subject of petroleum resources South Sudan has
more crude oil reserves than estimated, thanks to geological
entrapments, its reserve is currently estimated at 6.5 billion barrels
of recoverable crude oil, placing her in the top ten countries with
greatest proven petroleum reserves, above other sub-Sahara African
States in the world petroleum reserves ranking.
Evidently, lack of petroleum resources is not an issue in South Sudan
but human capital in the petroleum industry is. According to United
State Geological Survey assessment of undiscovered petroleum resources
of the Sud province, Muglad and Melut basin were highlighted as big
basins with large reservoirs and significant volumes, but geologically
complex and diverse. Candid reservoir management and regulated
production rate by experience and innovative companies will prove
essential in recovering all reserves.
Purportedly for South Sudan to wholly benefit from its petroleum
resource, it needs to implement statutory procedures through law(s)
and regulations to prevent unprincipled production that could led to
early petroleum peaks and declines. Petroleum production data from
South Sudan petroleum fields indicate that the country’s petroleum
fields are depleting at alarming rate due to devious production rates.
The new nation faces critical challenges of economic diversification
and human capital that must be carried out within a short time span,
before petroleum resource depletion occurs.
South Sudan’s vital task should be to train its population, discourage
unprincipled petroleum production rate, and allocate public
investments and expenditure outside of petroleum industry that will
lower the costs of producing manufactured or agro-processed export
goods for the benefit of the population. If economic diversification,
training, and legislation of laws are not implemented before petroleum
depletion, a critical opportunity to reduce poverty will be missed.
All in all, South Sudan faces vast challenges because petroleum is a
commodity with surreptitious instabilities. Bureaucrats involved in
the petroleum trade are probably and already exposed to the
unpredictable price precariousness, forex budgetary inflow is possibly
shortened due to low crude oil prices in the world market,
technological sophistication for extraction and transportation is and
probably a concern, weak administrative institutions staffed with
amateurish managers who lack knowledge and experience in the petroleum
industry will lead to mismanagement of petroleum reservoirs which are
vital for development.
Dire illiteracy rate, widespread corruption, and the rash development
of petroleum field will ultimately upset petroleum decline and also
the fact that foreign companies are applying rudimentary petroleum
technologies to develop petroleum fields which is currently causing
rapid petroleum decline should be regarded as a threat to the
country’s national security. Fields are being drawdown at alarming
rates, which in the long run will leave South Sudanese with nothing
but viscous depleted reservoirs with low formation pressure to haul
the petroleum reserves to surface.
It’s worth mentioning to South Sudanese officials that petroleum
reservoirs are subtle and complicated to manage, they require
technological know-how and experience combined with good intentions.
Depending on foreign companies at the initial phase might be vital
since the country’s lack human capital and technological knowledge but
having it as a long term strategy will be problematic. It might be too
late to discover that foreign companies based in South Sudan are
draining petroleum fields in unprincipled production rate which will
cause petroleum decline. South Sudanese officials must pay close
attention to petroleum decline issues.
It’s only a matter time before the country runs out of resources for
development. It would be unfortunate to let the foreigners’ rip-off
the population that has given so much to secure these resources. One
would expect South Sudan’s government to established law(s) and
regulations and invest in technical training of its people to take
over petroleum fields but such gesture is non-existence, instead,
looting is what South Sudan authorities seem to be noble at. The
actuality of maximum depletion rates in petroleum fields across South
Sudan due to mismanagement of petroleum reservoirs by foreign
companies who are producing at unimaginable rates is going undetected.
Relying on others and paying for what we already own seems to be the
norm in Kiir’s Government.
John Garang Ajak is a senior petroleum engineer at the United States
Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management. He can be reached at
[email protected]
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