As part of moves to increase oil production and ensure a complete operation by November, war-torn South Sudan has summoned investors to its oil regions with the guarantee that security will be provided for their safety.

“We are stable and peaceful, security is okay in oil areas,” Ezekiel Gatkuoth (photo), South Sudan’s Petroleum Minister, said.

South Sudan is also planning to start supplying diesel and petrol to Ethiopia.

“Ethiopia is a huge market. Yearly they import fuel that costs around $7 billion so if they buy from us we will make a lot of money,” Gatkuoth told the Star Kenya.

The country has witnessed a civil war between rival groups, loyal to President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar which has left 300 people dead and thousands evacuated.

The fighting has affected the oil sector immensely and has reduced the levels of production in the country from an estimated 130,000 to 5,000 barrels a day.

South Sudan’s oil production accounts for 98 percent of its budget. The reduction in the level of production together with the decline in global oil prices, has resulted to lack of revenues to run the government.

Anita Fatunji