JUBA, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan announced on Friday that oil production will resume in the damaged oilfields of Unity in September following completion of repairs by a joint team of technicians from Juba and neighboring Sudan.
Lilly Albino, Deputy Government Spokesperson, told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting in Juba that preparations for resumption of oil production in the war-torn Unity region are complete and production would kick off on Sept.2.
The Unity oilfields were destroyed during the nearly five-year-old civil war that erupted in late 2013.
The East African nation said last month that it hopes to increase oil output from the current 130,000 to over 200,000 barrels per day in the coming months with reopening of the unity oilfields.
"Our engineers are in the field working around the clock to ensure that all the preparations are being done before first September. Once the production resume, we shall be producing at full capacity," Albino told reporters.
"This will increase revenue to the government and also lead to economic stability," Albino added.
In June, Juba and Khartoum agreed to jointly repair oil infrastructure damaged during South Sudan's ongoing civil war and allow resumption of production in the next three months.
The Khartoum Declaration also said the two countries would deploy a joint security force to protect oil facilities from further attacks.
According to the World Bank, South Sudan is the most oil-dependent nation in the world, with oil accounting for almost the totality of exports, and around 60 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
But after the young nation descended into civil war in late 2013, oil production declined from 350,000 barrels in 2011 to less than 130,000 barrels per day in 2014 amid soaring inflation.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands and created one of the fastest growing refugee crises in the world.
