The paramilitary group locked in battle with Sudan's armed forces said it has taken control of a complex housing the country's sole operational refinery, north of the capital Khartoum.
In a video posted on the official Twitter account of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) late on Tuesday, an unnamed official standing in front of a billboard that reads ‘Garri Refinery' said RSF fighters had surrounded the area. The Garri complex is located around 70km north of Khartoum. It houses a power plant and the 100,000 b/d Khartoum refinery.
"We address the misled media that claimed that [the army] is in control of the refinery complex," the RSF official said. "This is not true. We are present 40km north of Garri, 40km south of it and 40km east and west."
Shortly before the video was released, the army warned in a post on Facebook of "heavy movement" towards the refinery, accusing RSF fighters of "taking advantage" of a 72-hour ceasefire to "take control of the refinery and, in turn, create a crisis in fuel supplies across the country".
The fighting is now into its second week. So far there appears to have been little to no impact on the country's crude production or crude exports from the Bashayer terminal, south of Port Sudan, on the Red Sea coast, which is also a vital outlet for landlocked neighbour South Sudan. Vortexa data show the last crude cargo to load at the terminal was a shipment of around 600,000 bl of Dar Blend on the Serene Sea on 24 April.
Supply concerns
Sudan's downstream oil operations have been largely unaffected, too. But should that change following Tuesday's takeover of the Khartoum refinery by the RSF, it could lead to fuel shortages.
Sudan typically relies on the refinery to meet up to 60pc of its domestic fuel requirements, with the remainder met through imports to the Bashayer terminal. Vortexa data show Sudan imported 23,400 b/d of gasoil and 4,100 b/d of gasoline in the first quarter of this year, with almost 60pc of that coming from the Middle East.
As well as an outlet to export its crude, neighbour South Sudan also relies on the Bashayer terminal for imports. Its oil minister Puot Kang Chol said imports of critical materials needed at its oil fields is being delayed by disruptions at Port Sudan.
Imports of oil products may have stalled as well. At least five vessels carrying around 130,000t of gasoil and 80,000t of gasoline are floating offshore Sudan in the Red Sea, according to Vortexa. All of them arrived in Sudanese waters at least 10 days ago, signalling Port Sudan as their destination, but as yet none have discharged. The latest vessel to discharge at Bashayer was the Eco Revolution, which unloaded 37,000t of gasoil on 22 April.
Port Sudan is being used to evacuate foreign nationals from Sudan via sea after armed clashes disrupted operations at Khartoum International Airport.
