South Sudan will resume oil production in three previously closed oilfields in former Unity state to boost daily production by 70,000 barrels per day in June.

That’s according the petroleum minister, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth.

Mr. Ezekiel announced during a tour he and his Sudanese counterpart, Ishag Adam Bashir Gamaa made to the oilfields on Saturday.

He was quoted by the Chinese Xinhua news agency as saying that the El-Nar, El-toor and Manga oilfields will restart production by the end of April.

In order to beat the deadline, Mr. Ezekiel reportedly asked a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation to speed up rehabilitating the oilfields.

In June 2018, the government of Sudan and South Sudan agreed to jointly repair oil infrastructure that were damaged during the five-year civil war and resume production.