South Sudan extended oil E&P agreements for three blocks, the petroleum minister said Sept. 10, seeking to revamp activity in the sector which ground to a halt after years of civil conflict.

The government said last week it expects to hit peak oil output of 350,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) by mid-2019 as production ramps up at oil fields that were offline due to the violence.

South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 when output peaked at 350,000 bbl/d but two years later plunged into civil war.

Ezekiel Lol Gatuoth, the minister, said contracts had been extended for China National Petroleum Corp., South Sudan’s state-run Nile Petroleum Co., Malaysia’s Petronas and India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

“We have extended block 1, 2 and 4 for six years and eight months. They will continue operating there. It is a win-win for all of us,” he said.

Neighboring countries have been mediating a peace deal between President Salva Kiir and rebels led by his former vice president, Riek Machar, to end violence that started in late 2013.