Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have captured the country’s largest oil field, forcing a shutdown of production critical to both Sudan and neighbouring South Sudan, military and oil industry sources said.
The paramilitary group said it had “liberated” the Heglig field near the southern border on Monday, calling it a pivotal economic objective.
A Sudanese engineer at the facility, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Radio Tamazuj that workers had shut down production and been evacuated to South Sudan’s Unity State after the army base there was overrun.
The Heglig field is a vital processing hub for almost all of South Sudan’s oil exports, which provide nearly the entire revenue for its government in Juba. The pipeline carrying that oil to Port Sudan is also a key income source for Sudan.
The capture marks a significant shift in Sudan’s civil war. Since the RSF drove the regular army from its last strongholds in the western Darfur region in late October, the fighting has centred on the resource-rich Kordofan region.
The Sudanese Armed Forces have been trying to halt the RSF’s advance eastwards through Kordofan towards the capital, Khartoum.
The conflict between the army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 12 million more, and devastated infrastructure.
The takeover of Heglig raises immediate questions about the resumption of oil flows.
South Sudan relies on oil for more than 90% of government revenue.
“The resumption of the oil production is now up to the South Sudan government to deal with this situation,” the engineer said, noting most of the oil belongs to South Sudan.
Last week, a drone attack in South Kordofan state hit a kindergarten and a hospital, killing 114 people, including 63 children.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemned the “senseless” strikes. Sudanese authorities blamed the RSF for the attack, a claim the paramilitary group has not directly addressed.
“Disturbingly, paramedics and responders came under attack as they tried to move the injured from the kindergarten to the hospital,” Dr Tedros wrote on social media.
The RSF also controls other key western oil fields, operated for decades by Chinese firms before the war forced their closure.
The Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) recently informed Sudan’s government it intends to end its investments in the country, according to a letter seen by Radio Tamazuj.
CNPC has requested an urgent meeting with Sudanese officials in Juba, South Sudan, this month to finalize the termination of the Production Sharing Agreement and the Crude Oil Pipeline Agreement.
Despite the request, the company expressed hope that the move would not impact future cooperation “once the armed conflict ends and security conditions are restored.”
China is Sudan’s main strategic partner in the oil and gas industry and has been a key player in the country’s oil production since 1999.