Sudan has ended a nearly year-long force majeure on crude oil transportation from South Sudan to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, citing improved security conditions. The decision was detailed in a letter from Sudan’s Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, obtained by Reuters on Monday.
The force majeure was declared in March 2024 after the main pipeline, which transports South Sudanese oil through Sudan for export, experienced disruptions linked to the war between General al-Burhan’s SAF and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In the January 4 letter addressed to South Sudan’s Energy Minister, Puot Kang Chol, Sudan’s Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Mohiedienn Naiem Mohamed Saied, announced the decision to lift the force majeure. He attributed the move to new security arrangements agreed upon with South Sudan and BAPCO, the Sudanese company overseeing pipeline operations.
“We are hereby lifting the force majeure,” the letter confirmed. A Sudanese energy ministry official later verified its authenticity.
The Petrodar pipeline, operated by a consortium including China’s CNPC and Sinopec, along with Malaysia’s Petronas, spans over 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) from South Sudan’s Melut Basin in Upper Nile State to Port Sudan. An additional pipeline connects South Sudan’s Unity State to the same port.
South Sudan has been exporting approximately 150,000 barrels of crude oil daily through Sudan, following a revenue-sharing arrangement established after its independence in 2011.
Sudan plunged into civil conflict in April 2023, triggering widespread ethnic violence and the world’s largest internal displacement crisis. The lifting of the force majeure marks a significant step toward stabilizing oil exports amid the ongoing challenges.
