HEGLIG – The Sudanese government has directed two oil companies to shut down Heglig oil facilities which transport South Sudan crude to the Red Sea, following relentless drone barrages by paramilitary RSF.
In a letter to Juba, Sudan’s Acting Undersecretary in the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum Dr. Fadul Mahmoud said the RSF attacks, which started since August 28, have resulted in casualties and caused panic among oil workers.
The Heglig oil infrastructure is used to transport South Sudan oil from Unity State and Ruweng Administrative Area to international market.
The latest incident brings back familiar nightmares of a similar attack in February 2024 on a pipeline in the war-torn Sudan, which forced the closure of a pipeline transporting 60 percent of South Sudan oil, plunging the country into economic hardships.
Dr. Mahmoud said while Khartoum understand that crude oil exports are critical to Juba, it hopes the latter will acknowledge the importance of personnel safety of engineers in Heglig.
He also emphasized that it is difficult to keep the facilities in operable condition, adding that continuing their operation amid ongoing RSF attacks will render them inoperable in the long run.
He added that the RSF, in a continuation of their aggression on critical civilian infrastructure related to petroleum export operations, at 2:30am this morning “attacked the Heglig Operations Basecamp, destroying the airport’s terminal.”
“Shrapnel from the attack reached the basecamp and the attack caused widespread panic among the staff operating the Heglig CPF and PS#1 of the export system.”
“We note that Heglig Airport has been non-operational for any activity since April 2023 and there is no military presence inside the Heglig Operations Basecamp.”
Dr. Mahmoud stated that “such unprovoked attacks against civilian infrastructure represent a serious threat to the stability of oil flows from South Sudan and we cannot in good faith” continue to man the operation there.
“We have accordingly issued instructions to 2B OPCO and PETCO to activate the Emergency Shutdown Plan and to coordinate the evacuation of all personnel from the Heglig Area.”
“We would also like to inform you that due to the attacks on 26 August and today’s attacks we have reduced the manning of the facilities to minimum.”
“As such, we expect that PETCO will be unable to meet the lifting schedule for this month.
He added that Sudan will continue to update South Sudan on the developments and the progress of the shutdown procedure, adding that they look forward to continued coordination between the two nations.
Sudan descended into bitter conflict in April 2023, fought between rival military factions, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions.
