Trade union officials in oil production and transportation companies estimated the losses resulting from the repeated protests in the oil sector at 3.5 million dollars.
On Friday, a tribal group rejecting the Juba Peace Agreement in eastern Sudan closed the roads leading to the maritime ports on the Red Sea. On Sunday the Hadandaw group closed the Bashayer crude oil export terminal, located 25 km south of Port Sudan.
The military component in the transitional government responsible for security in the country refrains from protecting the vital economic facilities including terminals demanding immunity from prosecution for its forces in the event of excessive use of force to deter riots and looting that take place during these protests.
The steering committees of the trade unions in the oil production and transport companies on Sunday held a press conference to draw attention to the risks of the continued deterioration of the security situation and its effects on the oil companies in the production areas.
They said that the security situation may lead to shut down Sudan’s largest refinery in the Al-Jili area on the east bank of the Nile River at about 70 km north of the capital Khartoum.
They further warned against the consequences of the closure of the Bashayer terminal on the Red Sea by the Al-Handawa group led by Muoamed Turk.
The trade unionists revealed that during the period from January to August 2021 there were 293 sabotage operations and 67 theft cases.
’’The losses resulting from the repeated protests during this period were estimated at 62,000 barrels of crude oil, valued at $3.5 million due to the recent protests”.
The oil production areas in Sudan witness regular protests organized by local groups due to poor development and services.
The trade unions representatives said there were 27 suspensions of work due to the protests, in addition to the kidnapping of some workers, stressing that the lack of security requires serious measures to protect the oil workers.
They further called on the Sudanese authorities to resolve urgently the growing security problems.
Khaled Bashir al-Tayeb, a trade union official, said that oil workers in the Bashayer terminal are facing security problems as a result of the ongoing protest in the area. He added that the situation is alarming as they ignore their whereabouts.
“If the situation continues, the pipeline will stop and catastrophic damage will occur,” al-Tayeb stressed on Sunday.
He further warned that if the pipeline has been shut down, the resumption of oil pumping requires weeks, in addition to equipment losses.
“The oil sector is sensitive and the government should take responsibility and deals properly with the situation,” he said.
Source: Sudan Tribune