The Commander-in-Chief of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF), General Paul Nanng, announced that South Sudan has deployed troops to the strategic Heglig oilfield near the border with Sudan to protect the facility, days after the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took control of the area. The deployment comes amid ongoing clashes in the Kordofan region.
General Nanng told South Sudan’s state radio that the deployment was authorized through a consensus reached between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit, Sudan’s Sovereign Council Chairman General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (widely known as Hemedti).
“The three leaders agreed on the necessity of protecting Heglig because it is a highly strategic area for both countries,” Nanng said. “Right now, the South Sudanese army is the one present in Heglig.”
According to South Sudan Television, the agreement stipulates that the Sudanese army withdraw first, followed by the RSF, allowing the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces to take charge of securing the oil infrastructure and preventing any potential sabotage.
The South Sudanese newspaper al-Mawkif reported that the tripartite accord aims to prevent damage to the oilfield amid heightened military tensions, describing the South Sudanese deployment as a temporary measure within a field-level arrangement designed to safeguard critical energy assets.
Neither the Sudanese government nor the RSF has officially announced an agreement concerning Heglig following the Sudanese army’s withdrawal. However, the RSF previously stated that it was protecting both the oil installations and the workers after taking control of the area.
Heglig lies in a highly sensitive border zone between Sudan and South Sudan and has long been a focal point of disputes between the two countries particularly during the 2012 clashes when South Sudanese forces briefly captured the area before it was retaken by the Sudanese army. Juba regards any change in the field’s status as a direct matter of national security.
Observers expect that the latest developments could pave the way for renewed negotiations between Sudanese parties, with Juba potentially playing a mediating role—especially after the RSF’s seizure of the oilfield, which may prompt new demands related to the division of petroleum revenues.
The RSF announced on December 8 that it had taken full control of the Heglig oil city, thereby consolidating its hold over all areas of West Kordofan State.
Heglig is one of Sudan’s largest operating oilfields and also serves as a vital transit route for South Sudan’s oil exports, making it of major strategic and economic importance to both nations.
Following South Sudan’s independence in 2011, the newly established country retained control over about 75% of the former Sudan’s oil reserves, while Sudan kept ownership of the export infrastructure, including pipelines and Port Sudan rendering cooperation between the two neighbors essential for maintaining production and export flows.
