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8. From Slaves to Oil

lauRa JamEs

Introduction

Sudan’s economy has been based, since early times, on natural resource

extraction for the benefit of the state. This has involved the exploitation,

first, of gold, then ivory and slaves, and, more recently, water – the latter

especially in irrigated agricultural projects. Finally, in recent years, oil

has become the most significant export. The history of resource extrac-

tion has built up a concentration of wealth and power in the northern

Nile states. And the production of oil since the late 1990s, while it has

transformed the economy, has reinforced existing patterns of wealth

distribution. Although agriculture is still the single most important

sector in the Sudanese economy, providing jobs for about two-thirds

of the working population, oil has now become the main driver of the

economy, sharply pushing up GDP growth since the opening of the first

export pipeline in 1999. This has had a knock-on effect on other sectors,

including manufacturing, construction and services.

This chapter outlines the history of resource extraction, culminating

in the development of the Sudanese oil industry over the past decade.

It surveys the main oil producing fields, the varied quality of the crude

oil produced, and the limitations of the country’s export and refinery

infrastructure. It explores how these affect political relations between

north and south, covering issues of corruption, transparency, conflict,

sanctions, new exploration and future prospects. It considers the relation

of the new oil economy to the old economy of agricultural production and

The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors its implications for government spending in north and south Sudan.

(www.riftvalley.net).