Sudan Fuel Crisis: Rising Costs Hit Daily Life

Traveling across Sudan has become more expensive and unpredictable for many residents this month. Public transport fares have jumped significantly, and getting to the pump now often requires long waits. For ordinary citizens, this means spending a larger share of their income just to get from one place to another.

The situation has evolved over the past three years. Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces began in April 2023. This conflict led to the closure of major oil facilities, which reduced domestic production. Last year, the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum estimated that war-related losses reached $20 billion. The World Bank noted that attacks on the Balila oil field disrupted supplies to the Khartoum refinery. That facility previously supplied about 60 percent of the national demand for petrol and liquefied petroleum gas.

With local output down, the country relies more heavily on imports. However, a global fuel crisis has pushed up prices for gas, petrol, and diesel. Economic analyst Sidi Ohaj explained that new government rules for importers have made the problem worse. Importers must deposit 200kg of gold in the Central Bank and own fuel storage facilities. Some companies could not meet these requirements and left the market. Ohaj said this reduced supply relative to demand. He added that the government should ease import procedures urgently. He also pointed to drone attacks and the ongoing war between the United States and Iran, which is disrupting global energy markets.

In Port Sudan, minibus driver Azhari Mohamed feels the impact directly. He is 60 years old and drives between the Shagar neighbourhood and the city centre. He carries eight passengers and makes seven round trips a day. His schedule runs from 6am to 9pm. His vehicle uses three gallons of petrol daily. That costs about 105,000 Sudanese pounds, or $11.30 at the parallel-market rate. Because fuel is hard to find, he works two days and spends a third day waiting in line. A single wait can last over five hours. Sometimes the petrol runs out before he reaches the pump, and he must go to the back of another queue.

Fuel prices have risen with the scarcity. A gallon costs 40,000 pounds, or $4.30, in Gazira State south of Khartoum. In Port Sudan, the price is 35,000 pounds, or $3.80. After paying operating costs, Azhari is left with about 50,000 pounds, or $5.40, a day to support his wife and a daughter at university. He said, "We just need fuel to be available so we can work."

The pressure has reached passenger fares. This month, Sudan's Transport Chambers Union raised intercity bus fares by 40 percent. Minibus fares went up by 30 percent. For passengers, the increase is painful. Aziza Ibrahim, 38, cleans for a living in Port Sudan to support four children. She has cut her work to three days a week because of travel costs. Before the war, her trip to the main city-centre station cost 700 pounds, or $0.08. Fares are now 2,000 to 2,500 pounds on various routes. She needs 11,000 pounds, or $1.18, a day for the round trip.

Transport eats up nearly half of her 400,000-pound monthly salary, which is about $43. She also faces costly diabetes treatment. She sometimes borrows money to get to work and repays the loan when she is paid. The United Nations Development Programme says the war has pushed average incomes in Sudan back to levels last seen in the 1990s.

Businesses are feeling the strain as well. Ahmed al-Haj, a trader in Omdurman market, packages skincare products such as petroleum jelly. He said higher diesel and petrol prices have raised the cost of moving a tonne of goods by 30 to 50 percent. That increase is passed on in product prices. When power cuts force him onto a fuel-powered generator, his daily costs rise further. Local deliveries in Omdurman that once cost 5,000 pounds, or $0.70, now run 10,000 to 12,000 pounds, or $1.07 to $1.29. Reaching customers in other states has become impossible. Ahmed said transport and distribution workers are making fewer trips, so goods are piling up at traders' premises.