23 October 2013, News Wires – China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is pumping more than $200 million into developing road infrastructure in Niger, according to reports.
The state-owned oil giant is investing 100 billion CFA francs ($210 million) in the eastern part of the African country, Reuters cited a local radio station as broadcasting.
The infrastructure would be put in place in the Diffa region where CNPC operates the Agadem oilfield.
CNPC is Niger’s dominant international partner and helped the country begin pumping oil in late 2011 as part of a $5 billion deal to develop the Agadem block.
The production sharing agreement, signed in 2008, involved a 20,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery near Zinder and a 2000-kilometre export pipeline.
Agadem was originally drilled by US supermajor ExxonMobil and earlier yielded proven reserves of 324 million barrels of 30 to 35 degrees API crude, mainly from eight Eocene discoveries.
CNPC is also looking for oil in the northern block of Bilma and co-owns the 20,000 barrel per day Soraz refinery with the government.
This is the second development involving CNPC in the region this week. On Tuesday, Reuters reported that the neighbouring Chad had given the green light to the Chinese player to resume operations at the Koudalwa oilfield following a mid-August shut-in over alleged environmental violations.