India shuts down South Sudan oilfields, evacuates entire staff

OVL owns 25 per cent stake in the Greater Nile Oil Project which produces about 40,000 barrels of oil per day and 24.125 per cent in Block 5A that produced 5,000 bpd.

Other partners in the blocks - China's CNPC and Petronas of Malaysia too have decided to evacuate their officials from South Sudan, the source said.

Fighting in South Sudan, which broke out on December 15, has already claimed as many as 500 lives, including Indian soldiers working as United Nations peacekeepers.

The source said rebels so far have not captured any of OVL's oil wells but as a precaution all of them were shut before officials left the country.