Despite previous promises to use its crude oil to repay existing oil-backed loans, the government of South Sudan delivered more than $731 million worth of oil cargoes under new pre-payment deals in the first 10 months of last year, an official report by the UN Panel of Experts has revealed.
According to the report, which is due to be published this week and was seen early by the international trade finance magazine GTR, South Sudanese authorities delivered 22 cargoes of Dar and Nile blend crude to various traders between January and October 2025. For each cargo, they received short-term advance payments ranging between $25 million and $30 million.
Since achieving independence in 2011, South Sudan’s government has taken out a series of large loans to be repaid with future cargoes of oil. However, court documents and previous UN reports show that in almost all cases, the government has failed to service or repay these debts. Lenders—including Qatar National Bank (QNB), the African Export-Import Bank, and the UAE-based Nasdec General Trading—were owed an estimated $2.3 billion in outstanding arrears as of mid-2025.
Despite this massive debt burden, South Sudan has continued to sell its oil allocation at a steady pace. The primary buyer during 2025 was Euro-American Energy, a trading firm headquartered in Dubai, which pre-paid for and took delivery of 12 cargoes. Other Dubai-based traders, including BGN and Chiangwei, alongside Singapore-headquartered EPDESA, also took delivery of between two and five cargoes each.
Meanwhile, these trading firms could face severe disruptions due to an injunction issued by the High Court in London. The court blocked further pre-payment deals until South Sudan meets its obligations to commodity trader BB Energy. BB Energy informed the court that it made a $100 million pre-payment to South Sudan in early 2025 for five cargoes to be delivered throughout the year, but has managed to secure only one cargo since then.
Another major highlight of the UN Panel of Experts’ report is the diversion of pre-payment funds into private entities and third-party bank accounts rather than the state treasury. Since 2023, South Sudan has mandated a fee of 0.3% of a cargo’s value as part of its “e-Crude Accreditation Permit” digital licensing scheme.
However, a separate report published by the UN Human Rights Council shows that 75% of this fee is allocated to Crawford Capital Ltd, a South Sudanese e-services company contracted to administer the accreditations, leaving just 25% for the state. Investigators stated that the firm’s ownership composition is connected to senior-most political elites in South Sudan and that it has emerged as a central vehicle for siphoning non-oil revenue collections.
The US Treasury also issued a statement regarding visa restrictions against members of the South Sudanese government, explicitly accusing corrupt officials and entities—including Crawford Capital—of stealing foreign assistance funds intended for the public and siphoning money from South Sudan’s treasury.
Furthermore, the UN report exposed that some oil buyers bypassed the government’s official revenue account at First Abu Dhabi Bank entirely. Instead, they made advance payments worth around $30 million directly to the account of a third-party company named “Al Wafra Najam Goods Wholesalers,” which is registered in the United Arab Emirates—a practice that completely circumvents state financial oversight.
This intense legal and commercial sparring over oil cargoes unfolds alongside deep turbulence within the highest echelons of South Sudan’s government. President Salva Kiir has appointed and subsequently fired three finance ministers since last November. Additionally, Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol was arrested in March and is currently standing trial along with several other prominent political figures.
South Sudan remains one of the world’s most impoverished nations, with more than two-thirds of its population requiring urgent humanitarian assistance. While a protracted civil war has displaced millions of citizens, international reports repeatedly confirm that the nation’s primary source of revenue—its oil wealth—continues to enrich a handful of political elites and foreign traders at the expense of its people.
