South Sudan has announced that it reached a rare three-way agreement with Sudan’s rival forces to safeguard the vital Heglig oil field, a site that has become a flashpoint in Sudan’s ongoing civil war.
The deal, revealed Thursday by Information Minister Ateny Wek Ateny, gives South Sudan’s military the lead role in securing the oil installation known locally as Panthou following its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The area lies in Sudan’s Kordofan region, near the border between the two countries.
Fighting in the region intensified after the RSF, which has been battling Sudan’s regular army since April 2023, seized control of the entire Darfur region earlier this year. The group claimed this week that it had also taken Heglig after government troops abandoned their positions. South Sudan later said the soldiers had surrendered to its forces for protection.
The Heglig oil field is one of the most strategically significant energy sites in the region, serving as the main processing hub for South Sudan’s crude exports. Loss of the facility was described by a former Sudanese official as a severe setback for Khartoum and a worrying development for Juba, which relies heavily on the flow of oil through Sudanese territory.
Ateny said operations at the site remain functional and that no significant damage has been reported. He credited South Sudanese President Salva Kiir for mediating between the Sudanese army and the RSF to prevent further clashes, stressing that any escalation around the facility could threaten the entire oil supply chain.
According to the minister, more than 1,700 Sudanese troops including officers who recently surrendered to South Sudan’s army are safe and arrangements are being made for their eventual return home.
South Sudan, which has struggled with instability and widespread poverty since independence in 2011, is already hosting large numbers of people fleeing Sudan’s conflict. With both countries facing internal crises, regional observers warn that any disruption to oil operations could worsen humanitarian and economic pressures on both sides.
Officials from the Sudanese army and the RSF did not immediately comment on the agreement.
