Is there a reason you chose 1983 as a starting date for the hostilities?

That was the starting date given for the genocides and the displacements. It is an incredibly complicated situation involving ethnic rivalries between Arabs and "Africans" (those who consider themselves to not be Arabs), as well as between different "African" (non-Arab) ethnic groups. But almost all of it has been in service to oil. In the early days, before oil became a part of the equation, most of the friction between Arabs and Africans had to do with grazing land, and most of the expression of that conflict was in the form of cattle raids.

Here is some more information on the history of the conflict in Sudan:

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/index.htm

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/9.htm#_Toc54492563

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/10.htm

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/11.htm

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/12.htm

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/13.htm

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/14.htm

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/15.htm

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/16.htm

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/17.htm

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/18.htm

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/19.htm

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/20.htm

The government of Sudan was using divide and conquer tactics with great success, even getting some of the different "African" ethnic groups to fight amongst each other, and thereby making it easier to get access to oil through displacement of the local populations. I really don't see any difference between what the government of Sudan was doing to the people of that country and what the governments of some "Western" countries are doing to many different peoples around the world as a way of gaining access to oil. Divide and conquer. It works.