Niger and Chad sign an agreement on oil transport

On July 11 in Niamey, the ministers in charge of hydrocarbons from Niger and Chad counted on the materialization “within a reasonable time” of the project to build a pipeline connecting the two countries. 

“The Chadian side, under the close attention of the Chadian Head of State, President of the Republic, HE Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, will work fully to make the construction of this infrastructure a success,” declared Ndolenodji Alixe Naïmbaye, the Chadian Minister of Oil and Minesand Geology. 

This underground canal will start from the Agadem oil fields, located in eastern Niger not far from the border with Nigeria and will be connected to the existing Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline (1,070 km), thus allowing Niamey to evacuate its crude from the deep water port of Kribi, in the Southern regionfrom Cameroon. 

In 2012, Niger and Chad signed a memorandum of understanding on this project. The project had unfortunately disappeared from the priorities because of insecurity with the Islamist sect Boko Haram in the region and cooperation with neighboring Benin. At the heart of a diplomatic quarrel with Benin, the option was put back on the table by the Nigerien authorities on May 30 during a council of ministers. 

According to Mahaman Moustapha Barké Bako, the Nigerien Minister of Oil, “the relaunch of the project coincides with the launch ceremony last May of the activities of SONIDEP (Société nigerienne de petroleum, the publicly owned oil refinery) which took place on June 22 last year. It is therefore timely because Blima blocks R5, R6 and R7 as well as blocks R1, R3 and R4, when in production, will supply this pipeline. According to the government member, the blocks already in production will be used to supply the refinery and the planned petrochemical complex. Mahaman Moustapha urged the members of the technical committee set up by the two countries to fully commit to the task, “relentlessly for a diligent completion of this project”.