CNPC begins work in Chad

2009-07-02 10:41

N'Djamena - China's largest energy producer, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), on Wednesday began work on a major oil pipeline in southwestern Chad, state media reported here.

The pipeline, due to become operational in 2011, will transport crude from Koudalwa field some 300 kilometres south of N'Djamena to the Djarmaya refinery north of the capital.

The planned cost of the project has not been disclosed.

"Chadians have waited a long time for this opportunity," President Idriss Deby Itno was quoted as saying at the inauguration ceremony.

Deby added that he hoped oil resources can "contribute to economic development and the battle against poverty in our country".

Energy-hungry China has boosted its presence in Africa in recent years, primarily in a bid to guarantee oil supplies for its rapidly growing economy.

CNPC first invested in Chad in 2003, three years before Beijing re-established diplomatic relations with N'Djamena.

Chad, which only began to produce oil in 2003, currently produces around 170 000 barrels per day. Deby's office said the southwestern Chari-Baguirmi region is estimated to eventually be able to produce 60 000 bpd.

- SAPA