The Unity oil field is a major oil field in the

Ruweng Administrative Area The Ruweng Administrative Area is an administrative area in South Sudan. The area was known as Ruweng State between 2 October 2015 and 22 February 2020 when it was a state of South Sudan. History On 1 October 2015, President Salva Kiir issued ...

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

. It lies to the north of the state capital

Bentiu Bentiu, also spelled Bantiu, is a city in South Sudan and capital of the state of Unity State. Location Bentiu is located in Rubkona County, Unity State, in northern South Sudan, near the international border with the Republic of the Sudan. It li ...

Rubkona County Rubkona County is an administrative division of Unity State, South Sudan. The administrative center is the town of Rubkona, across the Bahr el Ghazal River from the state capital Bentiu and the town of Yoynyang, which are also in Rubkona County. ...

. The oil field, and the

Heglig Heglig, or Panthou (also spelled Pandthow or Heglieg), is a small town at the border between the South Kordofan state of Sudan and the Unity State in South Sudan. The entirety of Heglig is claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, but administered b ...

field further north, were discovered by

Chevron Corporation Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened to Socal or CalSo), it is headquartered in S ...

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 The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originate ...

(1983-2005) began. The trigger was the killing in 1984 of three Chevron workers by

Anyanya II Anyanya II is the name taken in 1978 by a group of the 64 tribes of South Sudan dissidents who took up arms in All of Sudan. The name implies continuity with the Anyanya, or Anya-Nya, movement of the First Sudanese Civil War (1955-1972). When th ...

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.

References

{{reflist Oil fields in South Sudan Ruweng Administrative Area