Battle for Khartoum wrecks key Sudan oil refinery

The distillation tanks of Sudan's biggest lipid refinery prevarication blackened connected the crushed aft it became a battleground successful the devastating warfare betwixt the country's rival generals.. Photo: Ebrahim Hamid / AFP
Source: AFP

The once-pristine achromatic lipid tanks of Sudan's largest refinery person been blackened by astir 2 years of devastating war, leaving the state heavy babelike connected substance imports it can sick afford.

The Chinese-built Al-Jaili refinery, immoderate 70 kilometres (45 miles) northbound of Khartoum, was captured by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), conscionable days aft warring with the regular service erupted successful April 2023.

For months, artillery exchanges battered the facility, forcing a implicit shutdown successful July 2023.

The regular service yet recaptured the refinery successful January arsenic portion of a wider violative to retake greater Khartoum but operations stay astatine a standstill, with immense sections of the works lying successful ruins.

Towering retention tanks, which erstwhile gleamed nether the sun, are present cloaked successful soot and the crushed is littered with twisted pipes and pools of leaked oil.

"Some units person been wholly destroyed and are present retired of service," the refinery's lawman director, Sirajuddin Muhammad, told AFP. "Other sections request to beryllium wholly replaced."

Before the war, Al-Jaili processed up to 100,000 barrels per time of crude, gathering astir fractional of Sudan's substance needs.

"The refinery was important for Sudan, covering 50 percent of the country's petrol needs, 40 percent of its diesel and 50 percent of its cooking gas," economist Khalid el-Tigani told AFP.

"With its closure, Sudan has been forced to trust connected imports to capable the gap, with substance present being brought successful by the backstage assemblage utilizing overseas currency."

The heavy damaged refinery has been retired of cognition since July 2023, leaving Sudan heavy babelike connected substance imports the war-battered system tin sick afford.. Photo: Ebrahim Hamid / AFP
Source: AFP

And hard currency is successful desperately abbreviated proviso successful Sudan aft the deepening struggle betwixt Sudan's rival generals uprooted much than 12 cardinal people, devastating the nation's economy.

The Sudanese lb present trades astatine astir 2,400 to the dollar, compared to 600 earlier the war, leaving imported goods beyond the means of astir people.

During the army's recapture of the refinery successful January, what remained of it was gutted by a monolithic fire.

The RSF blamed the blaze connected "barrel bombs" dropped by the aerial force.

The regular service accused the RSF of deliberately torching it successful a "desperate effort to destruct the country's infrastructure".

'$1.3bn repair bill'

An AFP squad visited the refinery nether subject escort connected Tuesday. Burnt retired vehicles lined the roadside arsenic the convoy passed done abandoned neighbourhoods.

As the refinery grew nearer, the blackened skeletons of retention tanks loomed successful the region and the acrid odor of burnt lipid grew stronger.

The power rooms, wherever engineers erstwhile monitored operations, had been wholly gutted.

Pools of h2o near implicit from the firefighting effort successful January had yet to drain away.

Built successful 2 phases, successful 2000 and 2006, the works outgo $2.7 cardinal to build, with China taking the pb role.

Beijing inactive retains a 10 percent stake, portion the Sudanese authorities controls the remaining 90 percent.

Engineers estimation it volition outgo astatine slightest $1.8 cardinal to repair the refinery, a immense sum for a state wherever much than 12 cardinal radical person been uprooted by astir 2 years of war.. Photo: Ebrahim Hamid / AFP
Source: AFP

Refinery officials estimation it volition outgo astatine slightest $1.3 cardinal to get the refinery moving again.

"Some parts indispensable beryllium manufactured successful their state of origin, which determines the timeline of repairs," Muhammad said.

An technologist astatine the refinery, speaking connected information of anonymity due to the fact that helium was not authorised to talk to the media, said that adjacent if Sudan secured the indispensable financing, "it would inactive instrumentality astatine slightest 3 years to get this spot moving again".

The find of ample home lipid reserves successful the 1970s and 1980s transformed the Sudanese economy.

But erstwhile South Sudan seceded successful 2011, the fledgling federation took with it astir three-quarters of the formerly agreed country's lipid output.

South Sudan remains babelike connected Sudanese pipelines to export its oil, paying transit fees to the rump state that are 1 of its fewer remaining sources of hard currency.

But the warfare has enactment that statement astatine risk.

In February past year, the pipeline utilized to export South Sudanese lipid done Port Sudan connected the country's Red Sea seashore was knocked retired by warring betwixt the service and the RSF.

Exports were halted for astir a year, resuming lone successful January.

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Source: AFP