A critical pipeline bringing South Sudan's crude oil to Sudan’s Red Sea coast is expected to be back in service within two weeks, William Anyak Deng, undersecretary in South Sudan’s oil ministry, said.
The Petrodar pipeline normally transports around 100,000 barrels per day. It was ruptured during clashes between the Sudanese army and RSF, as per local media. The belligerents have been fighting since April 2023.
"The rupture has been restored, has been repaired, but now it has caused some gelling along the pipeline," William Anyak Deng, undersecretary in South Sudan’s oil ministry, was quoted by the media as saying.
To remove the wax blockage in the pipeline, the waxy, low-sulphur crude known as Dar Blend from South Sudan needs to be heated using hot water or diesel. As soon as this is done, oil exports will resume, the official told reporters.
Sudanese army sources reportedly accused the RSF of being responsible for shutting down the pipeline, claiming that its damaged pumping station was in RSF-controlled territory. However, the RSF has denied these allegations.
Since April 15, 2023, violent and widespread clashes between the Sudanese military and the RSF have taken place in various parts of Sudan. Due to the humanitarian situation in the country, the UN chief called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a resumption of ceasefire negotiations "without further delay."
In early May, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that about 15,000 people died and around 33,000 people were injured due to the conflict in Sudan. 15 million people remained in need of humanitarian aid.