Unity Oil Field
The oil field, and the Heglig field further north, were discovered by Chevron Corporation in 1982, and was to become one of the most productive fields in Sudan. Chevron spent almost $880 million in exploration, but suspended operations soon after the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005) began. The trigger was the killing in 1984 of three Chevron workers by Anyanya II rebels. Chevron demanded a special oilfield protection force in addition to the army. Dissatisfied with security, by 1988 Chevron had closed its operations in Unity province.
Oil production in Unity State was halted in 2013 following the outbreak of the civil war, which badly damaged the country’s oil infrastructure.
As of January 2019, South Sudan resumed production at the oilfield, and it was producing 15,000 barrels per day.
It has an airstrip, near which the 2025 Light Air Services Beechcraft 1900 crash occurred on 29 January 2025, killing 20 of 21 persons on board.
References
- ^ "Fact Sheet Two: A History of Oil in the Sudan" (PDF). Understanding Sudan. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 2011-09-14.
- ^ "South Sudan's Unity Oilfields Officially Resume Production". Energy Capital & Power. 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- ^ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/29/plane-crash-in-south-sudan-kills-at-least-20-people