Long fuel lines hit Khartoum as prices surge across Sudan

September 13, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – Long lines of vehicles formed outside petrol stations across Khartoum and other Sudanese states on Sunday, as rising demand, currency weakness, and higher import duties triggered acute fuel shortages and fresh price hikes.

The return of displaced residents and a gradual resumption of commercial activity in parts of the capital have sharply driven up fuel consumption, outstripping available supply.

Drivers reported waiting for hours to purchase petrol and diesel, with lines worsened by frequent crashes of the country’s widely used mobile banking app, Bankak, which motorists rely on for digital payments amid a cash crunch.

Khartoum State Governor Ahmed Osman Hamza met with oil ministry undersecretary Ali Abdelrahman on Sunday to arrange emergency fuel convoys to the capital and coordinate distribution in densely populated districts.

Abdelrahman said newly arrived fuel shipments had reached Red Sea ports and that truck convoys were heading toward Khartoum to ease pump shortages.

He attributed recent supply delays to rising global prices and the sharp depreciation of the local currency, which made imports costlier.

Governor Hamza ordered security forces to deploy to retail stations to maintain order and direct traffic.

The supply crisis coincided with fresh fuel price increases introduced across several states after authorities raised the customs exchange rate used to calculate import duties by nearly 9% to 4,346.65 Sudanese pounds per dollar.

In Kassala State, authorities hiked petrol prices by more than 20% to 8,048 Sudanese pounds per litre, while White Nile State raised the price of a gallon to 38,805 pounds.

The price increases and distribution bottlenecks threaten to complicate Sudan’s fragile economic recovery, driving up transport and food costs for households already strained by more than three years of conflict.