The Unity oil field is a major oil field in Unity State, South Sudan

South Sudan

South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...

. It lies to the north of the state capital Bentiu

Bentiu

-Location:Bentiu is located in Rubkona County, Unity State, in northern South Sudan, near the International border with the Republic of Sudan. This location lies approximately , by road, northwest of Juba, the capital and largest city in the country. Bentiu sits on the southern banks of the Bahr...

 in Rubkona County

Rubkona County

Rubkona County is an administrative division of Unity State, South Sudan.The administrative center is the town of Rubkona, across the Bahr el Ghazal River from the state capital Bentiu and the town of Yoynyang, which are also in Rubkona County...

.

The oil field, and the Heglig

Heglig

Heglig is a small town in West Kurdufan state in central Sudan, near the border with Southern Sudan. The area was contested during the Sudanese Civil War...

 feld further north, were discovered by Chevron Corporation

Chevron Corporation

Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...

 in 1982, and was to become one of the most productive fields in Sudan. Chevron spent almost $880 million in exploration, but suspended operations soon after the Second Sudanese Civil War

Second Sudanese Civil War

The Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983, although it was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile by the end of the 1980s....

 (1983-2005) began. The trigger was the killing in 1984 of three Chevron workers by Anyanya II

Anyanya II

Anyanya II is the name taken in 1978 by a group of Nuer dissidents who took up arms in eastern Upper Nile.The name implies continuity with the Anyanya, or Anya-Nya, movement of the First Sudanese Civil War ....

rebels. Chevron demanded a special oilfield protection force in addition to the army. Dissatisfied with security, by 1988 Chevron had closed its operations in Unity province.