South Sudan’s Minister of Petroleum Awow Daniel Chuang will announce South Sudan’s 2020 oil and gas licensing round at two strategic conferences this October: Africa Oil & Power 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa, on October 9-11 and South Sudan Oil & Power (SSOP) 2019 in Juba on October 29-30. The Minister will also announce a tender for an environmental audit for the country’s producing oilfields at the SSOP conference.

The Ministry of Petroleum is now actively seeking exploration, seismic and geophysical companies to gather and present exploration data at the event and invites Canadian, U.S. and European companies to SSOP 2019 to gain a better understanding of South Sudan’s oil and gas sector.

“This is an incredible milestone in South Sudan’s plans to double oil production by 2020. The country has a massive onshore reserve base and vast unexplored areas that make a licensing round very exciting. We are excited to host the announcement of the 2020 oil and gas licensing round at Africa Oil & Power 2019 and South Sudan Oil & Power 2019,” said Guillaume Doane, CEO of Africa Oil & Power.

Resumption of production at several key oilfields in South Sudan, a landmark peace deal celebrated in October 2018 and cooperation with neighboring Sudan have significantly improved investment conditions for the energy sector in the country.

There has also been an uptick in foreign investment through oil and gas exploration companies including Oranto Petroleum, which signed a six-year exploration and production sharing agreement (EPSA) for Block B3 in 2017 and South Africa’s Strategic Fuel Fund, which in March this year signed an EPSA for Block B2.

South Sudan’s Ministry of Petroleum has reiterated plans to return to pre-war production levels of 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2020, and will do so by increasing production at the recently rehabilitated oilfields of Greater Pioneer Operating Company and resuming production at fields operated by Sudd Petroleum Operating Company.

The Ministry has stressed a particular need for geophysical and seismic companies to assess South Sudan’s vast oil and gas resources, which are underexplored by estimations of up to 70 percent.

The resumption of oil production has provided new impetus for bringing new oilfield technology to the country, especially new environmental technologies.

Hosted by Africa Oil & Power for the third year running, SSOP 2019 has confirmed partnerships with South Sudan’s Ministries of Petroleum, Energy and Dams, and Finance and Economic Planning; as well as banks operating in the country, national oil company Nilepet, major investors Petronas and CNPC, and joint operating oil companies Dar Petroleum Operating Company, Greater Pioneer Operating Company, Sudd Petroleum Operating Company.