Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said on Monday that it had seized the country’s largest oil field, Heglig, in the country’s south as the militia makes significant gains in South Kordofan, 32 kilometers (20 miles) from the border with South Sudan.

What happened: Video released by the RSF appeared to show its fighters near the oilfield. The takeover followed the withdrawal of Sudanese Armed Forces troops — previously protecting the facilities — and oilfield workers on Sunday. Several sources, including from the SAF and employees at the field, told Agence France-Presse that they had retreated into South Sudan to prevent fighting from damaging critical infrastructure.

The Heglig oil field was previously managed by the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, a consortium of both international and Sudanese partners in which China National Petroleum Corporation holds the largest share at 40%. But the main oil-producing area in Heglig (Block 2) changed hands to two state-owned Sudanese oil companies, Sudapet and Petrolines for Crude Oil, at the end of 2016, according to reports in Sudanese state media at the time. 

In a statement on Monday, the RSF called the capture "a pivotal point in the path to liberating the entire homeland," claiming the field had long served as a major source of funding for SAF and the Sudanese government.