Sudan's Heglig: Why the oil field taken by the RSF mattersSudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the country’s largest oil field on Monday, as the paramilitary group continues to gain ground from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the strategic, resource-rich south.
Heglig, a small town that sits in the Muglad Basin on the border between Sudan’s South Kordofan state and South Sudan’s Unity State, hosts some of Sudan’s most important oil fields and key infrastructure, including about 75 wells, as well as tanks and processing stations.
It is a crucial stop on the approximately 1,600km-long Greater Nile Oil Pipeline, which runs from the Unity oil field in South Sudan to Port Sudan, where the oil is exported to the international market.
The stretch of pipeline that runs through West Kordofan to the vicinity of el-Obeid, the SAF-held state capital of North Kordofan, is now under the control of the RSF, which has brought engineers with it to Heglig.
“The liberation of the Heglig oil region is a pivotal point in the liberation of the entire homeland, given the region's economic importance,” the RSF said.
Emadeddin Badi, the author of a recent report on Sudan’s war economy, told Middle East Eye: “Militarily, the fall of West Kordofan opens a corridor towards el-Obeid, and ultimately a pathway back to Omdurman and Khartoum."
"This is the RSF’s strategic aim, and one the UAE is facilitating by ensuring supplies and financial backing,” he added.
“Economically, Heglig is a critical transfer node, while el-Obeid hosts a major refinery. Securing both would give the RSF an additional revenue stream and further entrench its wartime economy,” Badi said.
>RSF advances across southern SudanAt the end of October, the RSF captured el-Fasher, the army’s last holdout in the vast western region of Darfur, after a siege of over 500 days.
Victims and eyewitnesses told MEE that the paramilitary fighters raped and executed civilians in large numbers.
Since then, it has - with the support of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) faction led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu - turned its attention to Kordofan, which neighbours Darfur and is rich in gold and oil, both resources exported to the UAE.
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