As of December 2023, CNPC is the only company producing oil in Niger, although there are two other oil companies operating in other blocks in Niger:
Sonatrach and Savannah Energy. Extensive exploration of the Agadem block took place between 2008 and 2017. Security concerns about
Boko Haram in the
Chad Basin as well as about a weakening state in
Cameroon have contributed to the decision against the Niger-Chad pipeline. An additional reason from a Chinese perspective may have been that CNPC exports from Niger would have been dependent on the owners and operators of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline (
Exxon Mobil,
Chevron and
Petronas) for access to the sea. CNPC signed a contract for the construction and operation of a pipeline with the government of Benin in August 2019. CNPC was contracted to construct the pipeline along with the
West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo). The NBEP was officially commissioned by Niger's Prime Minister
Ali Lamine Zeine in November 2023. The following month, de facto president
Abdourahamane Tiani announced the first exports would begin in January 2024. The NBEP will be accessible to third parties. UK-based Savannah Energy has indicated its intent to utilize the pipeline. Before the NBEP, the daily production of around 20,000 barrels supplied the Soraz refinery through an approximately 13-inch diameter 460 kilometer pipeline which connects the oil fields at Agadem to the refinery. The refinery mainly produces diesel and super petrol for the domestic market and exports the surplus. CNPC owns 60 percent of the Soraz refinery, while Niger holds 40 percent. It was built in 2011 in a joint venture at a cost of five billion USD. The NBEP and the new facilities at the oilfields are supposed to enable the production of 110,000 barrels per day, of which 90,000 will be exported through the port in Benin. The remaining 20,000 will continue to go to the Soraz refinery. The 20-inch diameter pipeline project comprises nine intermediate stations before terminating at Port Sèmè: eight pumping stations (six in Niger and two in Benin) and a petroleum terminal in Sèmè with a 2 million barrel storage capacity. The offshore export terminal is connected via two parallel 28-inch subsea pipelines with a capacity of a million barrels per day. It includes a pipeline-end manifold and a single-buoy mooring system designed with six mooring anchors. Niger will hold a 15 percent share in the pipeline. == Construction ==