STORY: Fire persists at Sudan's largest oil refinery following army's recapture
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 26, 2025
DATELINE: Jan. 28, 2025
LENGTH: 0:02:52
LOCATION: Khartoum
CATEGORY: POLITICS/MILITARY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the oil refinery 
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): HASSAN HUSSEIN HASSAN, Director of technical sector of Khartoum Oil Refinery
3. various of the oil refinery
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): HUSHAM MOHAMED BABIKIR, Acting Director of Khartoum Oil Refinery
5. SOUNDBITE 3 (Arabic): GEN. JAAFAR MOHAMED AL-SHEIKH, Commander of Al-Butana Brigade in the Sudanese army

STORYLINE:

The Khartoum Oil Refinery is still engulfed in flames and smoke as of Monday, three days after the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) regained control of the strategic complex.

Husham Mohamed Babikir, acting director of the refinery, said crude oil storage tanks were set ablaze before the SAF retook control of the refinery.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): HUSHAM MOHAMED BABIKIR, Acting director of Khartoum Oil Refinery
"The damage is visible due to the fire, but the biggest damage resulted from this last fire. It hit the crude oil storage tanks, which are still burning. (That's) the reason why we see this cloud of smoke."

Located north of Khartoum, the refinery began production in May 2000.

Statistics from Sudan's Ministry of Energy and Petroleum show that the refinery has a production capacity of about 100,000 barrels per day. This covers approximately 45 percent of the country's needs.

The facility is connected to a 1,610-km oil export pipeline in Bashayer Port on the Red Sea coast of eastern Sudan.

The ministry estimated that the refinery's shutdown could cause Sudan a daily loss of about 5 million U.S. dollars.

Refinery technical director Hassan Hussein Hassan expressed optimism about controlling the damage.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): HASSAN HUSSEIN HASSAN, Refinery technical director
"The production units were not affected by the fire, but there are units we have not been able to reach yet. However, our assessment is that the fire has been confined to the crude oil storage tanks. We hope to be able to control the fire, and then we will assess the damage to the other units, if any."

Meanwhile, the SAF units continued combing operations in the buildings and areas around the refinery. The sprawling complex had been a site of intense clashes between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who fortified themselves at the refinery and its surrounding buildings for more than 21 months.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Arabic): GEN. JAAFAR MOHAMED AL-SHEIKH, Commander of Al-Butana Brigade in the Sudanese army
"The enemy has been completely expelled from this area, and it has been cleaned up. Now, our units are combing the areas outside the refinery, and there is no enemy presence."

Located just 6 km from a paramilitary base, the refinery was one of the strategic sites captured by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during the early days of the armed conflict with the SAF.

Before the war, the RSF was responsible for guarding the refinery. But when fighting erupted on April 15, 2023, the RSF announced control of the facility.

The Khartoum refinery has experienced several fires during the recent conflict. The two conflicting parties have accused each other of causing the conflagrations.

Aerial and artillery bombardments have damaged the refinery's storage tanks, control centers, and main pipeline.

The devastating conflict between the SAF and RSF has claimed at least 27,000 lives and displaced over 15 million people inside and outside of Sudan, according to estimates by international organizations.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Khartoum.
(XHTV)