KHARTOUM, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's capital is in the grip of a deepening fuel crisis. Hundreds of vehicles line up at the few operating stations. Drivers idle under the scorching sun, sometimes waiting all day for gasoline or diesel.
"I've been waiting here all day, and I still don't know if I'll get any fuel," said Ridwan Ahmed Al-Nayer, a taxi driver. "It's not just physically tiring. It's mentally wearing, too. My work has nearly stopped."
The crisis has spread to most Sudanese cities, driving prices sharply higher. A gallon of gasoline on the parallel market now costs about 30,000 Sudanese pounds (around 8.69 U.S. dollars), up from 18,000 pounds less than a week ago.
A 12.5 kg cylinder of cooking gas is now worth about 78,000 pounds (around 22.60 dollars), pushing up the cost of basic goods. Bread now sells at four pieces for 1,000 pounds, down from six.
"Everything has become more expensive," said resident Al-Sammani Al-Basri. "Even short trips are expensive."
The crisis stems from war damage to Sudan's oil infrastructure. The Khartoum refinery, which once met about 70 percent of national fuel needs, has shut down. Several oil fields are also offline, forcing Sudan to rely almost entirely on imports. The country's six refineries have a combined capacity of 144,000 barrels per day, but output has fallen to just 15-20 percent because of war damage.
"Dependence on imports makes the local market highly vulnerable," said economist Abdul-Khaliq Mahjoub. "With war ongoing and domestic production declining, the country faces limited reserves and rising import costs, both deepening citizens' suffering."
The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum says Sudan holds about 1.36 million barrels of gasoline, which equals roughly 88 days of supply at current consumption, and 1.24 million barrels of diesel, covering about 54 days.
"The quantities we receive are limited and irregular, often insufficient to meet demand," said Abdullatif Ibrahim, a fuel station owner in Omdurman. "Reliance on private importers has complicated the situation amid weak oversight and high costs."
Sudan's supply is also exposed to maritime disruptions. Regional tensions involving Iran have heightened risks to Red Sea shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil artery.
"Any military tension in the Gulf immediately impacts global oil prices," said economist Mohamed Al-Tayeb. "For Sudan, the effect is amplified." He said better policy, including building reserves and direct state intervention in imports, could have cut prices by up to 25 percent.
Sudan lost about 75 percent of its oil reserves when South Sudan seceded in 2011. The conflict that began in April 2023 has since disrupted the transit of South Sudanese oil, further destabilizing the sector.
"I fear the worst is yet to come," said Al-Nayer. "Every day without fuel makes life harder. We are all just trying to survive."
