Sudanese protesters on Friday are blocking roads and shutting ports including the Kassala Airport in eastern Sudan as demonstrations intensify for the eighth day in a row.
The demonstrators in eastern Sudan decry what they referred to as poor social and economic conditions. They shut a pipeline that carries imported crude oil to the capital Khartoum, but there are enough reserves for the country’s needs for up to ten days, the ministry of energy and oil said on Saturday.
The ministry added in a statement that the Khartoum oil refinery, which produces fuel for domestic consumption, is still working without obstructions.
Another pipeline used for exporting crude oil from neighbouring South Sudan is still working but it is vulnerable to freezing and damage because the protesters are blocking a vessel from loading the oil.
South Sudanese oil fields will halt production if oil depots at Bashayer oil terminal port in eastern Sudan get fully filled after ten days at the most if the blockage of exports continued.
Authorities have appealed to the protesters to end the shutdown within a week to spare the country huge financial and technical losses.
