Heglig Oilfield placed under neutral South Sudan protection
Tripartite agreement with RSF and SAF sees SSPDF deployed to secure strategic oil infrastructure after SAF redeployment
South Sudan army has deployed forces to the Heglig Oilfield under a tripartite security arrangement with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), placing one of the most critical energy nodes in the (north) Sudan–South Sudan borderlands under neutral protection as the war in Sudan continues to reshape regional security dynamics.
The deployment follows the withdrawal of units from SAF’s 90th Brigade of the 22nd Infatry Division from Heglig to Pan Akuach in South Sudan’s Unity State. RSF forces subsequently moved into Heglig without resistance on Monday, prompting Juba to activate the tripartite mechanism to prevent clashes around oil facilities, according to security sources familiar with the arrangement.
Heglig sits within the Muglad Basin, a rift basin containing much of both Sudans’ proven oil reserves and forming the backbone of oil connectivity between the two countries. First developed in 1996 by Arakis Energy and now operated by the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, the field is linked to Khartoum and Port Sudan via the Greater Nile Oil Pipeline.
For South Sudan, Heglig is the gateway through which oil from Unity State’s fields – in Rubkona County (Unity Oilfield) and Koch County (Tharjiath Oilfield) – is transported north for export. Any damage to the facilities or pipeline would be economically catastrophic for Juba, which depends almost entirely on oil revenues, while Sudan would also lose crucial transit and processing fees that have become increasingly important since the outbreak of war.