Sudan has proven oil reserves totaling 563 million barrels. So far Sudanese oil exploration has been limited to the central and south-central regions. The upstream oil industry could be key to the future of the economy of the North East African state of Sudan. Although the country is considered to be vastly under-explored, it has been a producer of oil and gas for a number of years. The country's oil and gas reserves are vast.

The downstream oil industry in Sudan is an important sector in the country's economy as Sudan has three refineries and imports both refined product and crude oil. The completion of a new refinery has made Sudan largely self sufficient and able to export refined as well as crude products. Sudan still needs to import jet fuel however.

Although Sudan has been producer of oil and gas for a number of years it is considered to be vastly under-explored. The country's oil reserves are estimated at between 600 million and 1.2 billion barrels with recoverable reserves estimated at greater than 800 million barrels. The country is also rich in natural gas with reserves estimated at 3 trillion cubic feet (tcf).

The Sudanese crude oil is waxy in character, has an average API degree of 32 and possesses no sulphur. The paraffinic nature of the crude makes it a good feed stock for lubricating oils. In August 1999, the first shipment of crude oil was exported from Sudan to Singapore. The new Red Sea terminal is located in the port of Bashair about 25 kilometres south of Port sudan. Port Bashair terminal has a storage capacity of 2 million barrels with the potential to increase to 3.2 million barrels with the use of reserve reservoirs. The terminal at Bashair is supplied via a 1,500 kilometre pipeline from the Heglig oilfield which was opened in May 1999.