The South Sudan authorities are promoting the countryâs open blocks which are available to companies for direct negotiations. Petroleum agreements are of the production sharing type and are entered into by the Ministry. The Council of Ministers (the cabinet of the government of South Sudan) has the power to open or close areas for petroleum activities. Petroleum agreements are negotiated and signed by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining. Within the ministry, there is a General Director Petroleum and under him, four directorates. The Directorate of Upstream is the most important for licensing purposes. An Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement, gives the contractor an exclusive right to explore for petroleum in the contract area. In addition, an Exploration Drilling Permit is required before drilling starts. The exploration phase of an EPSA has a duration of up to six years, comprising a first commitment period and two optional commitment periods to be specified in the Agreement.Â   For more information contact to:  Eng. Mohamed Lino Benjamin, Undersecretary, Ministry of Petroleum  Tel: +211 956 666 935 / +211 912 366 661  Email:Â Â mbenjamin@mopam.goss.org    Â   Mr.Steven Puoch Riek Deng, Executive Director, Office of the Minister, Ministry of Petroleum  Tel: +211 950 800 039 / +211 922 555 344  Email:Â guancajen@gmail.com    Â   The available blocks as of November 2018 are understood to be as listed below.  There are 12 available blocks.  There was no change from the previous table except minor block area revisions.  Total open acreage amounts to 209,794 sq km, all onshore.Â             Open   blocks         Â          Â          Â              Block   Name         Total (SQKM)         Situation         Block   Basin             Block   A1         23,242         onshore         Melut   Basin             Block   A2         18,361         onshore         Melut   Basin             Block   A3         11,396         onshore         Muglad   Basin             Block   A4         2,984         onshore         Muglad   Basin             Block   A5         4,206         onshore         Muglad   Basin             Block   A6         4,007         onshore         Muglad   Basin             Block   B1         43,655         onshore         Melut   Basin             Block   B2         47,742         onshore         Muglad   Basin             Block   DC         4,915         onshore         Melut   Basin             Block   E1         21,425         onshore         Central   African Shield             Block   E2         22,331         onshore         Muglad   Basin             Block   S7         5,529         onshore         Melut   Basin
The South Sudan authorities are promoting the countryâs open blocks which are available to companies for direct negotiations. Petroleum agreements are of the production sharing type and are entered into by the Ministry