Radebe signs South Sudan oil deal

South Sudan and SA have signed a six-year production-sharing agreement for an untapped oil exploration block in the East African country, where production has been hit by civil war. The exploration production sharing agreement for Block B2 was signed by Energy Minister Jeff Radebe and Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, South Sudan’s Minister of Petroleum, according to a report on the BusinessLIVE site. Radebe said SA had committed $50m for exploration. SA was also interested in building a pipeline and refinery, he said, bringing their total projected investment to $1bn, according to memorandum of understanding signed in November. Block B2 was once part of a 120 000km² area known as Block B, which was divided into three licences in 2012 and is thought to be rich in hydrocarbons although very little drilling has been done there.