The United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan has accused transnational oil companies controlled by Asian interests of enabling military offensives that led to civilian casualties, according to a 212-page report released in 2019.
The commission stated that oil firms operating in South Sudan during periods of mass human rights violations were complicit in crimes against civilians. It referenced a 2018 U.S. Commerce Department finding that linked these companies and the state-run Nilepet oil firm to the country’s ongoing conflict, which has persisted since South Sudan gained independence in 2011.
The U.S. government noted that oil revenues, funneled through corruption, were used to purchase weapons that destabilized South Sudan. The report warned that companies involved in oil extraction risk criminal liability for enabling armed groups through infrastructure access, including air strips and roads.
Asian firms have dominated South Sudan’s oil sector since Western companies withdrew in the early 2010s. The Dar Petroleum Operating Company, led by China’s CNPC (41%) and Malaysia’s Petronas (40%), remains the largest producer. Other joint ventures include the Greater Pioneer Operating Company, with CNPC (40%) and India’s ONGC (25%), and the Sudd Petroleum Operation Company, owned by Petronas (68%) and ONGC (24%).
The report highlighted that oil revenues, which totaled 150,000 barrels per day in 2018, are heavily siphoned by operational costs and transnational firms, leaving limited benefits for South Sudanese citizens. A 2018 World Bank study found 82% of the population lived below the poverty line, a situation exacerbated by the 2015 peace agreement’s failure to resolve ongoing conflicts.
Control over oil resources has fueled South Sudan’s five-year conflict, with the UN noting that oil-producing regions in Unity and Upper Nile states have become heavily militarized. The state-run Nilepet has been accused of diverting revenues to government elites, exacerbating inter-ethnic violence. South Sudanese activists have called for oil-related crimes to be included in the mandate of a proposed Hybrid Court, delayed since 2017 amid stalled negotiations with the government.
