An oil engineer works on a main oil pipeline in Heglig oilfield. (Photo: Reuters)
Sudan has shut down its Heglig oil facility after a string of drone strikes by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed several civilian workers and injured others.
The latest attack took place in the early hours of Saturday, when drones hit both the oil fields and the nearby airport in Heglig. It was the second such strike in less than a week.
Heglig is not only an oil field but also the main station where crude from South Sudan is collected, measured, and fed into the Nile Blend pipeline. The pipeline, with a daily capacity of 450,000 barrels, carries oil to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. Any disruption at Heglig risks slowing or halting the flow of Nile Blend crude, a light oil that accounts for a large share of South Sudan’s exports.
In a statement after the attack, Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned what it called a "treacherous" strike by the RSF. It warned that repeated assaults on oil facilities could force a complete shutdown of production and the evacuation of workers to protect their lives.
According to Reuters, Sudan’s energy ministry confirmed the closure in a letter dated August 30 to its South Sudanese counterparts. The ministry said drone strikes on August 26 and August 30 had made it impossible to maintain safe operations at Heglig and posed a major risk to the stability of South Sudan’s oil exports.
Unprovoked attacks
"Such unprovoked attacks 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," the statement read.
The Sudanese government also said it had directed the two main operators at Heglig, 2B OPCO and PETCO, to withdraw their staff.
"Their continued operation despite ongoing attacks by the RSF will render them inoperable in the long run," the letter stated.
The war that broke out in April 2023 between Sudan’s army and the RSF has already disrupted the transport of South Sudanese crude through Sudanese territory. The latest strikes are expected to worsen the crisis.
Earlier this year, the Bashayer terminal north of Port Sudan—through which nearly all Sudanese and South Sudanese oil exports pass—was also targeted in drone attacks that damaged fuel depots and disrupted operations.
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