With production recovering, mature fields receiving fresh attention and ambitions growing around refining, investment and local content, South Sudan is working to turn its oil rebound into a broader economic revival. Petroleum Undersecretary Dr. Santino Ayuel Longar is driving the reset from Juba, while African Energy Chamber Executive Chairman NJ Ayuk is backing the country’s case for renewed international investment.
By Ajong Mbapndah L *
For a country whose economic fortunes remain closely tied to crude oil, the recovery taking shape in South Sudan’s petroleum industry carries significance far beyond the oilfields. After years of conflict, declining mature assets, limited investment and disruptions to the export route through Sudan, production is rising again and attention is returning to a sector that remains the backbone of the national economy.
At the centre of this new push is Dr. Santino Ayuel Longar, appointed Undersecretary of Petroleum by President Salva Kiir Mayardit in March 2026. Longar has moved quickly with an agenda built around raising production, improving recovery from ageing fields, attracting fresh capital, advancing domestic refining, strengthening petroleum institutions and ensuring that South Sudanese citizens and businesses gain more from the industry.
The African Energy Chamber (AEC) has emerged as an important ally in that effort. Executive Chairman NJ Ayuk travelled to Juba in July for high-level discussions with government and industry officials, throwing the Chamber’s weight behind efforts to restore investor confidence and reposition South Sudan as a serious destination for energy capital.
“South Sudan possesses the resource potential to become one of Africa’s most compelling frontier investment destinations, but attracting capital requires sustained engagement with the global investment community,” Ayuk said during the Chamber’s engagement with the country. His message reflects the challenge facing Juba: South Sudan has substantial resources, but unlocking them will require capital, technology, infrastructure and a business environment capable of convincing investors to take another look.
Production Turns the Corner
South Sudan holds proven oil reserves estimated at approximately 3.5 billion barrels, giving it one of East Africa’s most significant hydrocarbon resource bases. Yet years of instability, underinvestment and ageing infrastructure have kept production well below the levels recorded around independence.
South Sudan was producing more than 300,000 barrels per day around the time of independence in 2011, but output subsequently fell as conflict, shutdowns and operational problems hit the industry. The disruption of a key export pipeline through war-torn Sudan in 2024 delivered another major setback and underscored the vulnerability of relying on infrastructure running through its northern neighbour.
The recovery recorded in 2026 is therefore important. At the Greater Pioneer Operating Company, production reached 60,158 barrels per day on May 29, its highest level since 2005, a notable performance for fields in Blocks 1 and 4S that have been producing for nearly three decades and face an estimated natural decline rate of around 25 percent annually.
“GPOC has successfully reached a production level of 60,158 barrels per day as of May 29, an achievement that deserves recognition,” Longar said when announcing the milestone. He credited residual oil recovery studies, accelerated field-development programmes, drilling campaigns and upgrades to critical infrastructure for helping reverse the decline.
“This achievement is especially significant given that these oil fields have been producing for nearly three decades,” Longar said. “Mature fields naturally experience substantial production declines, and in GPOC’s case, the annual decline rate is around 25 percent.”
Keeping mature fields productive requires constant investment, drilling and careful reservoir management, while increasing output demands even more. The GPOC figures therefore offer an indication of what South Sudan believes can be achieved if capital, technology and operational discipline are brought back into the sector.
Longar has put national crude production at approximately 174,000 barrels per day, a substantial recovery from the difficult periods that preceded it. His ambitions go further, with the government targeting production growth of as much as 50 percent through improved recovery, additional drilling, better operational performance and new investment.
“This achievement goes beyond production figures,” Longar said of the GPOC gains. “It reflects confidence in the future of South Sudan’s petroleum sector and highlights the importance of partnership, technology, innovation, and our collective determination to unlock the full potential of our natural resources for the benefit of our people.”
Ayuk Takes South Sudan’s Case to Investors
While Longar is driving the revival from Juba, Ayuk and the African Energy Chamber are helping carry South Sudan’s investment message beyond its borders. During the Chamber’s visit, discussions covered opportunities across the petroleum value chain, regulatory certainty, natural gas, electricity generation, infrastructure and local content.
The immediate objective is to put South Sudan back on the radar of investors at a time when African producers are competing aggressively for increasingly selective global capital. Mature fields need investment and technology, exploration requires risk capital, while refining, storage, pipelines, power infrastructure and distribution networks all require investors prepared to take a longer view of the country.
“The African Energy Chamber will champion South Sudan’s opportunities on the international stage, connecting investors with government and industry leaders while supporting reforms that create a stable, competitive and investable energy sector capable of delivering long-term growth,” Ayuk said.
That commitment gives South Sudan an influential continental voice as it works to change perceptions about its petroleum sector. Ayuk has consistently argued that African countries cannot expect investors to arrive simply because oil and gas exist underground; they must compete for capital, provide regulatory certainty, offer commercially attractive terms and engage investors consistently.
For South Sudan, the geological case is already strong. Its estimated 3.5 billion barrels of proven reserves provide scale, while the rebound in production offers evidence that even mature fields can respond when investment, technical expertise and operational improvements come together.
The next challenge is turning those advantages into sustained investor confidence. On that point, Longar’s domestic reforms and Ayuk’s international advocacy increasingly speak the same language: South Sudan needs more capital, more projects and faster execution.
Longar Looks Beyond Crude
Longar’s ambitions are not limited to producing more barrels. A central part of his emerging vision is to capture more value from the petroleum South Sudan already produces, rather than exporting crude while continuing to depend heavily on imported refined products.
Domestic refining is consequently moving higher on the agenda. Plans under discussion include two refinery developments with proposed combined capacity of approximately 60,000 barrels per day, including a proposal involving Superior Process Engineering Company for an initial 30,000-barrel-per-day facility at Tharjiath in Koch County, Unity State.
If those plans move from proposals to operating facilities, they could change the economics of South Sudan’s petroleum industry. Domestic refining would reduce dependence on imported fuel, save foreign exchange, create technical jobs, strengthen energy security and open new opportunities for South Sudanese companies across transportation, storage, distribution and supporting services.
It could also eventually give South Sudan an opportunity to supply refined petroleum products to neighbouring markets. For a landlocked producer that has traditionally depended on exporting crude through Sudan, building more value at home would represent an important shift in the structure of the industry.
Investment outreach is moving alongside those plans. In July, Longar signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the government with Bianchi Gold Trading Investment Company covering potential investments in oil, gas and petroleum refining, including infrastructure, storage and distribution, technical studies and capacity building.
The direction is increasingly clear: South Sudan wants investment across the energy value chain, not simply companies interested in pumping crude. That approach also featured prominently in discussions with the AEC, where natural gas, electricity generation and supporting infrastructure formed part of the conversation about the country’s next phase.
Making Oil Work for South Sudanese
The success of the petroleum revival will ultimately be judged by more than production statistics. For many South Sudanese, particularly those living in producing areas, the more pressing questions concern jobs, local businesses, infrastructure, schools, healthcare, water and whether petroleum wealth produces visible improvements in everyday life.
Local content has therefore become an important part of the emerging agenda. During the AEC visit, discussions examined ways of expanding opportunities for South Sudanese workers, strengthening domestic supply chains and developing the skills needed for citizens and local companies to compete for meaningful roles in future petroleum projects.
Longar, who comes from the oil-producing Ruweng Administrative Area, has repeatedly linked increased production with broader national benefit. His agenda points towards a petroleum industry in which higher output is accompanied by stronger domestic participation, better institutions and greater opportunities for South Sudanese businesses and professionals.
The Chamber’s backing gives that message a wider audience. Ayuk’s emphasis on long-term growth reinforces the argument that the value of an oil revival cannot be measured solely by how many additional barrels reach the market.
A petroleum sector that creates opportunities for South Sudanese engineers, technicians, contractors, service companies and entrepreneurs would have a far deeper impact on the economy. It would also help build the domestic expertise needed to sustain the industry long after individual investors and projects have changed.
Reform Must Keep Pace With Recovery
Significant challenges remain despite the improved production numbers. Mature fields will continue to decline naturally, new exploration requires substantial capital, refinery projects must secure financing and move into construction, while the country remains vulnerable to disruptions affecting export infrastructure through Sudan.
Investors will also be watching regulatory consistency, contractual certainty, security, environmental standards and the ability of government institutions to implement agreements. South Sudan’s competition is not limited to neighbouring producers; it is competing for capital with established and emerging petroleum markets across Africa and beyond.
Longar appears conscious that institutional reform will be as important as production gains. Efforts to modernise the Ministry of Petroleum, including work around its new Twin Towers and Data Center headquarters along the Juba-Yei Road, form part of a broader attempt to strengthen the state’s ability to manage a technically demanding industry.
Modern petroleum governance, however, will ultimately be measured by results rather than infrastructure alone. Reliable data, skilled personnel, transparent administration, predictable regulation and institutions capable of negotiating effectively with international companies will be critical if the current momentum is to last.
For Longar, the test will therefore be practical: how much production rises, how much investment enters the country, how many projects move from paper to implementation, how quickly refining ambitions advance and how much of the resulting opportunity reaches South Sudanese citizens.
South Sudan’s Investment Story Gains Continental Attention
South Sudan’s petroleum recovery is giving the country a stronger story to take to the international energy investment community. Production is recovering, mature fields are showing renewed life, refinery ambitions are advancing and the government is actively courting investment across the petroleum value chain.
Ayuk believes those developments deserve greater international attention. Rather than viewing South Sudan solely through the difficulties that have surrounded its petroleum sector, the Chamber is urging investors to examine the size of the resource base and the opportunities that could emerge from the country’s renewed push for production and reform.
“South Sudan possesses the resource potential to become one of Africa’s most compelling frontier investment destinations,” Ayuk said. The argument is powerful, but so is the qualification that accompanies it: attracting capital requires sustained engagement with investors and an environment in which companies can confidently deploy money for the long term.
Longar has similarly made clear that the production recovery is not an end in itself. “We remain committed to sustaining high production levels, maximizing recovery from mature assets, pursuing new development opportunities, and preparing for the next phase of growth in the petroleum sector,” he said.
The figures explain why expectations are rising. South Sudan has approximately 3.5 billion barrels of proven reserves, national production has recovered to around 174,000 barrels per day, GPOC has pushed mature assets beyond 60,000 barrels per day, proposed refinery developments could provide around 60,000 barrels per day of domestic processing capacity, and the government is targeting production growth of as much as 50 percent.
The larger prize is what South Sudan does with that recovery. Turning additional barrels into investment, domestic refining, infrastructure, skilled jobs, stronger local companies and better institutions would give the current revival an economic significance that production numbers alone cannot provide.
That is the opportunity Longar is trying to seize and the investment story Ayuk and the African Energy Chamber are helping South Sudan take to the world. After years when disruption, declining production and uncertainty dominated discussion of the country’s petroleum sector, the narrative is changing: the barrels are coming back, investors are being courted and South Sudan wants its oil comeback to deliver much more than crude.
*Culled from October Issue of PAV Magazine
