Qualla: Heglig

Heglig: Introduction

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Two countries, two languages, two names for the same tree - and one oil field underneath. The Balanites aegyptiaca grows across most of Africa and the Middle East. Its fruit is a date-like thing that Sudanese Sufis use for rosary seeds and that camels, goats, sheep, and cattle will eat with equal enthusiasm. In Arabic, the tree and its fruit are called heglig. In Dinka, the tree is thou and the land where it grows is pand - so Panthou means 'land of the desert date.' Both names describe the same landscape. They describe the same town. They describe, underneath the surface, the same oil field. Which government decides what the town is called has become a matter of considerable consequence.

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Heglig: A Line No One Agrees On

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Heglig/Panthou sits at the disputed border between South Kordofan state in Sudan and Unity State in South Sudan. All parties - the current Sudanese government, the current South Sudanese government, the tribal communities on either side - claim it. It is currently administered by...

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Heglig: Muglad Basin Geology

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Heglig is situated within the Muglad Basin, a rift basin that contains much of South Sudan's proven oil reserves and extends north into Sudan. The Heglig oil field was first developed in 1996 by Arakis Energy (later part of Talisman Energy, the Canadian company that would sell ou...

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Heglig: The Ten Days of Panthou

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In mid-April 2012, South Sudan's SPLA captured the Heglig oil field from Sudan at what became known as the First Battle of Heglig. During the ten days of occupation, South Sudan officially restored the town's name as Panthou. Sudan mobilized under President Omar al-Bashir and at ...

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Heglig: The Rapid Support Forces Arrive

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

On 8 December 2025, the Rapid Support Forces - a Sudanese paramilitary force locked in civil war with the Sudanese Armed Forces since April 2023 - seized control of Heglig as it expanded its reach in the ongoing Sudanese civil war. The strategic and economic stakes of the oil fie...

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Heglig: A Small Airport, A Big Disagreement

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Heglig Airport has two gravel runways and, in the past, has hosted three Sudanese Air Force helicopter squadrons - Mi-8s and Mi-17s, Soviet-era workhorses that move easily across this kind of country. The runways are visible from the air as two gray streaks across the dry grassla...

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