Sudan is grappling with a deepening energy crisis as over two years of conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have severely damaged the country’s oil production and refining infrastructure, forcing shutdowns of major facilities and crippling domestic energy supplies.
The Heglig oil field, once the country’s largest producing asset, has been completely shut down since December after staff were evacuated amid escalating violence. Attacks on pipelines, storage depots and refining facilities including Sudan’s main refinery near Khartoum have further hindered the nation’s ability to produce and distribute fuel, leaving ordinary citizens struggling with shortages of diesel, gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas.
The collapse of energy infrastructure has also battered government revenues, with oil receipts falling by more than half compared with pre-conflict levels, adding to fiscal pressures at a time of war. Analysts warn that without a significant and sustained reduction in hostilities and targeted efforts to rehabilitate damaged facilities, Sudan’s reliance on imported fuel already rising amid global supply constraints, could become entrenched, deepening hardship for households and businesses alike.
The crisis is widely viewed as both a symptom and a driver of broader economic deterioration in Sudan, where markets have become increasingly fragile and everyday life has been disrupted by persistent insecurity, inflation and erosion of public services.
