Oil workers employed by China National Petroleum Corp and Sinopec have fled Sudan amid continued armed conflict in the African country.
As of early May, the two state-owned giants have evacuated 189 workers by air or sea — 114 employed by CNPC and 75 by Sinopec, according to an Upstream report.
China has deployed its navy “in order to protect the lives and property of Chinese people in Sudan”, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei said, without specifying the number of vessels involve in the rescue campaign.
CNPC has also evacuated 28 workers from Block 6 in the Muglad-Sudd Rift basin, where its holds a 95% stake with Sudapet holding the remaining 5%, to safe areas in neighbouring South Sudan.
Recent weeks have seen armed clashes between Sudan’s Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. The number of people displaced inside Sudan has more than doubled since last week, with more than 730,000 people currently internally displaced due to the fighting.