Niger–Benin Oil Pipeline
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The Niger–Benin Oil Pipeline is an operating oil pipeline from Niger to Benin.[1]
Location
The pipeline would run from the Agadem oil field in Niger, through southwest of Niamey, Niger, and ending at the Port of Seme Terminal in Benin.[2]
Project details
- Operator:
- Owner: China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co., Ltd.[3]
- Parent company: China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)
- Capacity: 90,000 barrels per day
- Diameter: 20 inches[3]
- Length: 1,950 kilometers[4]
- Cost: US$7 billion[5]
- Status: Construction (suspended due to Covid-19 in 2020; now restarted)
- Start year: 2024[6]
*China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).
Background
The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has been trying since 2012 to build a pipeline linking oil fields in Niger to the coast. The initial plan was to build the Niger Chad Oil Pipeline, which would have connected in Chad with the Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline — but that plan was abandoned, reportedly "because of a 'poor experience' with Chadian authorities." The official explanation given for the project's cancellation was concerns about attacks by Boko Haram in the Lake Chad area.[7] After that plan began to unravel, CNPC pursued an alternative plan to route a pipeline to the coast through Benin.[8]
In January 2019, Niger's Minister of Petroleum Resources and Benin's Minister of Water & Mines signed a bilateral agreement for the construction of the pipeline.[9] In August 2019, CNPC signed a contract in August 2019 with the government of Benin to build and operate the Niger–Benin pipeline. The 1,980-km, US$7 billion pipeline would start from the Agadem oil field in Niger, connect with the CNPC-built refinery at Zinder, Niger, and end at the port of Seme Terminal in Benin, allowing CNPC to export Nigerien oil.[1] In September 2019, CNPC signed a transportation convention with the two governments and began construction, with Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou laying the first stone and giving the project a full-throated endorsement.[10][8]
In February 2020, CNPC suspended all construction work due to the COVID pandemic. With COVID raging in China, CNPC had been unable to transfer employees from China, and was worried about the disease spreading among construction workers.[11]
In October 2020 it was reported that CNPC had started detailed designing of the pipeline, and that a consortium of CNPC-related companies had completed the engineering of the onshore section of the project, including 675 kilometers that will run through Benin and 1275 kilometers through Niger.[5]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 China's CNPC to build Niger-Benin crude oil pipeline Reuters, August 5, 2019
- ↑ Niger's Oil Export Options SP Global, accessed November 1, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Anthony-Uko, N. S. E.; Izuora, Chika; Babalola, Yusuf (2021-07-19). "Nigeria: China Builds 1,980km Oil Pipeline From Niger to Benin Republic". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "CNPC Begins Construction of Niger-Benin Crude Pipeline Scheduled for 2022 Completion | Pipeline Technology Journal". www.pipeline-journal.net. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 CNPC mapping out route for Niger-Benin pipe plans Upstream, October 15, 2020
- ↑ Edith Mutethya, Major oil pipeline set to help fuel Niger's growth, China Daily, Dec. 10, 2020
- ↑ Niger withdraws its Agadem-Chad-Cameroon pipeline project due to threats posed by Boko Haram, Business in Cameroon, 23 Sept. 2019.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Viktor Katona, China Takes the Lead In This Emerging Energy Frontier, OilPrice.com, 28 Jan. 2020.
- ↑ A pipeline to link Niger and Benin, Energy Review MENA, 29 Jan. 2019.
- ↑ Eklavya Gupte & James Leech, Niger's oil export hopes advance as Benin pipeline works start, S&P Global Platts, 18 Sept. 2019.
- ↑ The coronavirus wreaking havoc on CNPC's Niger-Benin pipeline build, Africa Intelligence, 18 Feb. 2020.
