Sudanese paramilitary seizes strategically crucial oil field
The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced on December 8th that it had seized control of the strategically significant Heglig oil field, according to Al-Monitor via Reuters.
The Heglig oil field in Sudan’s South Kordofan province lies on the border with South Sudan and houses the latter’s main oil processing facility. Heglig generates most of South Sudan’s government revenue.
According to the Progress Centre for Policies on September 4th, oil revenues comprise roughly 98% of South Sudan’s total national budget. It is estimated that any disruptions to Heglig would risk annual losses of up to $2.5 billion.
Government forces told Reuters that they, alongside oil workers, departed from the area on December 7th in anticipation of an RSF assault to ensure that clashes did not erupt, which could have damaged critical infrastructure at the site.
Another source who worked at the oil field confirmed that Sudanese military forces and oil workers withdrew into South Sudanese territory.
Oil from the Heglig site is channelled through the Greater Nile pipeline system to Port Sudan, which sits on the Red Sea. It is from there that it is then exported internationally. This makes the Heglig oil field vital for maintaining both Sudan and South Sudan’s hard currency reserves. The latter, which is landlocked, is heavily economically reliant on oil pipelines through Sudan.
Since Sudan’s civil war erupted in April 2023 between the RSF and the national army, the paramilitary group has repeatedly disrupted Heglig’s operations and South Sudan’s oil flows, which averaged between 100,000 and 150,000 barrels per day before the conflict.
After the seizure, the RSF released a statement which read, “The Liberation of the Heglig oil region is a pivotal point in the liberation of the entire homeland, given the region’s economic importance”, according to The New Arab via AFP on December 8th.
The RSF takeover may prove to be a mortal blow to Sudan’s already collapsing energy sector. It occurred just days after the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) informed the Sudanese government that it would terminate its energy investments in the country, according to the Sudan Tribune.
Ever since the RSF eradicated the Sudanese army’s last remaining foothold in the western region of Darfur and took total control of it in late October, the frontline of the war has shifted eastwards and now lies in the Kordofan region.
Kordofan has become hotly contested and the epicentre of the violence as the army seeks to slow down the RSFs renewed momentum and territorial gains, which often leaves a trail of destruction and death in its wake.
On December 5th, the RSF launched a drone strike targeting civilian infrastructure in South Kordofan, including a children’s nursery. The World Health Organisation reported that the official death toll now exceeds 100 people.
Al-Monitor via Reuters, Progress Centre for Policies, Maghrebi.org, The New Arab via AFP, Sudan Tribune
Want to chase the pulse of North Africa?
Subscribe to receive our FREE weekly PDF magazine
