Sudanese army says it has seized control of country's sole oil refinery

The Sudanese army said it has successfully seized the 100,000 b/d al-Jaili oil refinery near Khartoum after several days of clashes with paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, although the plant has suffered significant damage.

The al-Jaili refinery, built in the 1990s, is Sudan's only operational oil refinery. It is located in northern Bahri on the outskirts of the capital Khartoum, an area that had been under RSF control since the war between rival generals erupted in April 2023.

On Jan. 25, the Sudanese Armed Forces said it had reclaimed the refinery and secured the surrounding area, marking a significant strategic victory for the SAF. The announcement came a day after witnesses had reported that fire had broken out at the plant amid heavy fighting.

It followed a siege at the Signal Corps HQ in Bahri, which the RSF had turned into its local base of operations, according to Darfur Governor Arcua Minnawi, who confirmed the capture of the plant.

Jaafar Muhammad al-Sheikh, the commander of the operation, said that engineering teams were on site at the refinery in a bid to restart operations.

Sheikh added that crude oil was leaking from storage tanks, but the control room was secure. The facility requires a full engineering assessment to determine the extent of the damage and a timeline for restarting operations. "The RSF had used fuel stored at the facility as a shield," he said.

The RSF has not commented on the army's apparent seizure of the refinery, but a spokesman for the rebels confirmed Jan. 23 that a battle to retain it was ongoing.

Previously, the refinery was damaged by an explosion in May 2024, with the RSF and SAF blaming each other. Hassan Hussein Hassan, the refinery's technical director, told the media in 2024 that restoring operations would depend on the nature of the damage and whether necessary parts were available locally or needed to be sourced from abroad.

Fighting across large swathes of the East African country has made importing materials extremely challenging.

The al-Jaili refinery typically processes Nile and Dar Blend crude from Sudan and neighboring South Sudan and provided around 66% of Sudan's fuel needs, according to officials. The two countries produced a combined 200,000 b/d of crude prior to the fighting, but that has since fallen to around 80,000 b/d due to a rupture on the sole regional export pipeline.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and RSF has spread across 13 of Sudan's 18 states and has killed over 20,000 people and displaced 14 million, according to United Nations estimates.