South Sudan starts pumping crude from oil field closed for five years

Juba — South Sudan restarted crude production in a key oil region almost five years after facilities were shuttered by civil war. The resumption of output in the so-called Unity fields marks the start of efforts to rebuild the oil-dependent economy, which has sub-Saharan Africa’s third-biggest reserves. The East African nation’s warring parties signed a peace deal this month to end fighting that’s claimed tens of thousands of lives. Output has resumed at Toma South, one of several fields in the region formerly known as Unity state, petroleum minister Ezekiel Lul Gatkuoth told reporters on Saturday during a field visit to the site in northern South Sudan. The ministry said earlier this month that output will resume at the El Mar, El Toor, Manga and Unity fields later this month. "We have now resumed production officially in Toma South," Gatkuoth said. "We will be producing 45,000 barrels per day." Production at the fields ceased in December 2013, when conflict erupted after a dispute...