The Heglig oil dispute between Sudan and South Sudan

Abstract

The armed forces of Sudan and newly independent South Sudan recently clashed over the border area called Heglig by Khartoum and Panthou by Juba, in a dispute involving security, ownership of land, and control of oil production. The clash triggered swift condemnation of South Sudan for occupying Sudanese national territory. However, such pronouncements risk pre-judging a dispute that has not yet been decisively resolved. This briefing provides historical background relevant to understanding the history of the dispute, and the efforts in the context of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to resolve it and other border disputes. A serious examination of both oral and documentary evidence will be required in order to make a ruling that complies with “African best practice”.

Keywords:

• border
• conflict
• arbitration
• boundary
• demarcation
• Heglig
• Panthou

Notes

1. Sudan Tribune, “World Demands South Sudan Pullout of Heglig, End to Khartoum's Air Raids” (April 13, 2012).

2. http://africanarguments.org/2012/04/24/alex-de-waal-currently-it's-war-for-north-and-south-sudan/ (accessed May 15, 2012).

3. Butler, “Report on Patrol in Southern Kordofan.”

4. Sudan Intelligence Report [SIR] 154, May 1907.

5. C.C. Marshall, Inspector Talodi, “Koweilat Dinkas of Mek Mabior & Mek Fadl-el-Maula Bilkwai, April 1, 1913.”

6. Governor Kordofan Province to Civil Secretary, Khartoum, January 3, 1927; Sudan Monthly Intelligence Report 399, October 1927.

7. J.A. Gillan, Governor Kordofan to Governor Bahr-el-Ghazal, July 1, 1929.

8. Willis et al., The Upper Nile Province Handbook, p. 306; Sudan Government Gazette, “Alteration of Boundaries between Kordofan and Upper Nile Province.”

9. John Ashworth, email, “Heglig – a view from Unity State,” July 30, 2009.

10. Willis, The Upper Nile Province Handbook, p. 297.

11. I was shown a copy of this map by the Deputy Commissioner of Upper Nile in Malakal in May 1983 when I was there transferring Malakal's closed files to the Southern Regional Records Office in Juba. He complained, “First you come to take our archives, now they come to take our oil.” Chevron Oil Company is likely still to have a copy of the same map.

12. Human Rights Watch, Sudan, Oil, and Human Rights Abuses.

13. Dr Nafie Ali Nafie, Minister, Federal Government Chambers, Khartoum, to Dr Joseph Monytuil, Governor, Unity State, June 14, 2004. Joseph Monytuil, who is now in South Sudan, provided these documents to the government in Juba.

14. The two groups are shown as contiguous in both the 1956 and 1969 editions of the 1:2,000,000 map “Sudan Tribes Sheet 3” that I have been able to consult.

15. PILPG, “Frequently Asked Questions and Answers about the Decision of the Abyei Arbitration Tribunal (July 28, 2009)”.

16. See Sudan Tribune, “Sudan's SPLM says Abyei Oil Fields Still up for Grabs”, Sudan Tribune; Sudan Tribune, “There are ‘Misleading Voices from Khartoum’ over Abyei Ruling – Machar”; Deng, “Abyei and Panthou (Heglig): Clarifying the Deliberate Confusion.”

17. “Agreement between the Republic of the Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan on the Demarcation of the Boundary”, Addis Ababa, March 13, 2012.