South Sudan Terminates Petroleum Licence Talks With Total

South Sudan has called off talks with French oil major Total about developing two oil blocks, the petroleum ministry said on the 25^th July, paving the way for other investors keen on exploring the vast area thought to be rich in hydrocarbons.

Total, alongside two other oil companies, has been in talks with the country’s government about developing the area called B1 and B2 since 2013.

“The Ministry of Petroleum regrets that negotiations with Total have concluded in no deal,” Petroleum Minister Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth said in a statement. “But it looks forward to bringing new investors into talks for these licences.”

Total and the government failed to agree on the duration of the exploration and the commercial terms of a production-sharing agreement, Mr Gatkuoth said.

Landlocked South Sudan, which split from Sudan in 2011 after decades of conflict, has been mired in civil war since President Salva Kiir sacked former vice president Riek Machar in 2013.

But on the 25^th July South Sudan’s government and the main rebel group inked a power-sharing deal in the Sudanese capital, which they hope will end the conflict, although smaller opposition groups have refrained from signing.

Source: Rigzone