Oil accounts for nearly all of the newly-formed South Sudans export earnings (98% of total revenue, according to the IMF); it has also been responsible for pollution, a major source of conflict between the government and local communities and resulting in the loss of traditional livelihoods of the local Dinka and Nuer communities. Soil and water contamination, loss of grazing land and deforestation are some of the negative effects[1]. One well-publicised case involves White Nile Petroleum Company (WNPOC), a consortium led by Malaysias Petronas, which has been operating in Unity State since 2006 in the vicinity of the Sudd wetlands, a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance. News reports say thousands were forcefully evicted, losing their ancestral homes and their livelihoods. News agency AFP quoted from sample results from the Thar Jath oil plant, which indicated that brine from the refinery produced a high salinity, putting the concentration of nitrate at 81.6 mg/l, above the 10 mg/l recommended by the the US Environmental Protection Agency. These figures came from German human rights organization Sign of Hope, which took water samples in the area. Nitrate measurements at this level could have serious health consequences, especially for young children[2]. These reports are dated 2009, but recent news reports appear to indicate that pollution is still a problem. Quoted by the Sudan Tribune, Koch County Commissioner John Chuol Wang said pollution from oil companies operating in his area was damaging the environment and water supply for local people. He said environmental practices had not improved since autonomy in 2005 or independence in 2011[3].

The US Energy Administration Information estimates that crude oil production in Sudan and South Sudan averaged about 425,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2011. Block 5A, which contains the Thar Jath and Mala oil fields operated by WNPOC, produced around 15,000 bbl/d in 2011[4].