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June 21, 2024 (AL-JAILI) – A devastating fire has broken out at the Khartoum refinery, which is now under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been raging for two days. The firefighting materials used by the Civil Defence Forces have reportedly run out.
The refinery, located in the Al-Jaili region, about 70 kilometers north of Khartoum, has been under shelling since November last year. The Sudanese army has not claimed responsibility for the attack on the strategic facility.
The refinery was first attacked in November, with both sides in the conflict blaming each other for the bombing. In late May, the Rapid Support Forces accused the army of bombing and completely destroying the facility.
However, witnesses from the northern countryside of Omdurman, about 20 kilometers from the site of the fire, told Sudan Tribune that the fire, which has been burning since Wednesday night, was the worst yet.
A fire has engulfed the Nile Blend crude oil storage facility at the Heglig oil field in West Kordofan state, according to sources close to the scene. The cause of the fire is still unclear.
These sources also indicated that the refinery’s civil defence team had run out of the “foam” fire-fighting agent used due to the frequency of fires and the limited supply of this specialised material.
Civilian activists have expressed concern about the environmental impact of the growing oil storage fires in the region and called for the evacuation of workers and their families from housing near the refinery.
It is worth noting that the oil industry union stated in a press release on May 24 that the refinery has been out of service since mid-July 2023. Despite this, workers, engineers and managers continue to go to work every day, and some families still live in barracks at the refinery.
The statement also mentioned that the Rapid Support Forces also detained some managers but later released them.
The union called on military leadership to act responsibly to protect infrastructure assets and consider the sensitivity and inherent dangers of oil facilities to people and the environment.
The Khartoum Refinery is Sudan’s largest refinery. It was built in 1997 with a designed production capacity of 100,000 barrels per day. It produces diesel, gasoline, gas, etc., meeting 45% of Sudan’s oil demand.
The refinery is connected to the Red Sea port of Basayer by a 1,610 km pipeline for export. The refinery also receives crude oil from wells in West Kordofan and South Sudan. However, the ongoing war and the control of certain oil fields by the Rapid Security Forces have significantly reduced crude oil supplies and halted oil exports from South Sudan.
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