President Salva Kiir has appointed Eng. Chol Deng Thon Abel as the new Managing Director of the state-owned Nile Petroleum Corporation (Nilepet).

Eng. Thon takes over from Bol Ring Mourwel, the former President of Nile Drilling-South Sudan, who was sacked from the position mid-October by the head of state.

The president made the appointment in a decree issued on Friday evening, burying the speculations that linked various technocrats to the oil giant, including the sitting Juba City Mayor, Kalisto Lado.

Eng. Chol Deng comes to Nilepet having served in a previous stint up to 2020 when he was relieved and succeeded his successor-cum-predecessor Mr Mourwel.

Academic background

Born in 1976 in Malakal, South Sudan, Chol Deng brings to the table a mixture of experience and academic prowess needed for the big shoes necessary to steer the state-owned entity.

While acknowledging his thesis on soil aquifer treatment, UNESCO notes of his achievements that ‘‘He graduated from the University of Khartoum, Sudan in 2002 and holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in Civil Engineering. From September 2002 to September 2005, Chol worked as Civil Engineer at Irrigation Works Corporation after which he joined Lahmeyer International – consulting Engineers (Germany) as Soil Laboratory Engineer during the construction of the Merowe Dam (1250 MW) from October 2005 to March 2007.

‘‘In April 2007 to February 2010, Chol assumed the position of Assistant Coordinator for Southern Sudan hydropower projects as part of Dams Implementation Unit (DIU) of the presidency of Sudan’’.

He did his PhD under the UNESCO-IHE sponsored program and his Master of Science in Washington DC, USA, under a scholarship by World Bank.

The national oil company, established in 2009— two years before South Sudan’s independence in 2011— has now seen three different faces within the past six years since 2015 with Mr Ring the third.