Petroleum Ministry extends Prequalification for Environmental Audit after failing to get bidders

January 22, 2020 Newsbeat

A South Sudanese citizen looks at how crude oil spills in one of the oilfields in South Sudan (Photo: Supplied)

January 22nd, 2020 (SSNN)—South Sudan’s Ministry of Petroleum has once again invited international companies to bid for a tender to conduct a Comprehensive Environmental Audit of the country’s oilfields, the Ministry announced earlier this week.

“Due to the amount of interest, and requests from some companies to extend the deadline, the Ministry’s Environmental Tender Audit Committee has announced an extension to the deadline to submit documentation by seven (7) more days. The deadline is now 16h00, 27 January, 2020. The Ministry is treating this process as both very importance and urgent.”

Earlier this month, the South Sudanese government announced a tender for a comprehensive environmental audit of all the country’s producing oilfields, in a bid to improve management of the environmental impact of the sector after years of neglect prior to independence.

Last year, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir pledged that he would not tolerate mismanagement of the oil sector, which has since posed major threats to both humans and animals in the oil-producing regions.

“to safeguard the exploration and exploitation in the extractive industry that has led to pollution in the oilfields and in the surrounding areas.”

The country seeks to appoint an independent body which will conduct the audit, suggest best practices for new exploration, and propose methods to repair historical environmental damage in South Sudan.

According to the world Bank, South Sudan is one of the most oil-dependent countries in the world, with oil accounting for almost the totality of exports, and more than 40% of its gross domestic product (GDP).