South Sudan’s Nile Petroleum assumes control over former PETRONAS oil and gas assets

(Bloomberg) – South Sudan’s state-run Nile Petroleum Corp. took over oil fields and assets that belonged to a subsidiary of the Malaysian oil company Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS).

The changes come almost two weeks after the Malaysian conglomerate announced it would leave South Sudan after 14 years. UK-based oil and gas company Savannah Energy Plc has been in talks to purchase that business.

Nilepet will now “assume the responsibilities previously held by PETRONAS,” according to Chol Deng Thon Abel, an undersecretary at South Sudan’s petroleum ministry. “All assets and shares of Petronas will now be transferred.”

The company will seek a new partner to ensure operations continue, he said in a statement on Monday.

PETRONAS left its investment due to mounting costs brought about by a broken pipeline that ships two-thirds of South Sudan’s crude through neighboring Sudan, which has been at war for more than a year. The conflict has resulted in damage to one of two pipelines after a lack of diesel to thin out the crude caused the conduit to rupture.

Landlocked South Sudan, which declared independence from Sudan in 2011, still relies on its northern neighbor to export its oil, the source of almost all government revenue.