In Niger, the largest oil pipeline in Africa takes shape

Chinese and Nigerian workers, masked and helmeted, hoist giant steel pipes over mounds of earth. Further on, smoke rises from the torches. Camouflaged in the millet fields, heavily armed soldiers lie in wait.

In Gaya, in the south-west of Niger, near Benin, the largest oil pipeline in Africa is taking shape. Nearly 2,000 kilometers long – including 1,250 in Niger – the pipeline will link the oil wells of the Agadem deposit, in the Far East, the scene of deadly jihadist incursions, to the Beninese port of Sèmè d where Nigerian crude will be evacuated for the first time.

With a modest production of 20,000 barrels per day, Niger, one of the poorest states in the world, became an oil producer in 2011. The black gold extracted by the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is up to here transported by pipelines to Zinder (central-southern Niger), where it is refined.

Initially, Niger had planned to evacuate its crude through the Cameroonian port of Kribi via neighboring Chad, before opting for the Beninese corridor. Launched in 2019, the project was supposed to be completed in 2022, but the Covid-19 pandemic slowed it down, Nafiou Issaka, deputy general manager of the West African Oil Pipeline Company (Wapco), told AFP. ), the contracting authority.

From 2023, 110,000 barrels per day

Wapco, a CNPC subsidiary, is now working hard: more than 600 kilometers of pipes have already been laid, “i.e. 51.5% achievement rate”and Niger could sell its crude on the international market by “October or November 2023”he hopes.

More than 700 soldiers are deployed to ensure “always safe” of the work even if a large part of the areas it crosses have so far been spared from jihadist violence, a security source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

With the continued collapse of income from uranium, of which Niger is a major producer, the country is betting on black gold to boost its budget, a good part of which is injected into the fight against jihadist groups in the Southeast. and the West. “Six billion dollars will be invested in the construction of this pipeline. This is Niger’s biggest investment [ancienne colonie française] since its independence [en 1960] »observes Kabirou Zakari, director of hydrocarbons at the Nigerian oil ministry.

From 2023, oil production will be increased to 110,000 barrels per day, of which 90,000 barrels will be exported, he said. Oil goes like this “generate a quarter of the country’s GDP” (more than 13.6 billion dollars in 2020 according to the World Bank) and “about 50% of Niger’s tax revenue”, against respectively 4% and 19% currently, notes Mr. Zakari. According to him, Niger’s reserves “revolve around 2 billion barrels”. And according to official projections, Niger will produce 200,000 barrels per day in 2026.

The scale of “fuel smuggling”

Sonatrach, the Algerian public oil group, announced that it had made a “encouraging discovery” of oil in Kafra (north), a vast area of ​​23,737 km² near the border with Algeria, which adjoins the Algerian oil basin of Tafassasset, also operated by Sonatrach. The British company Savannah Petroleum, for its part, claims to have discovered new deposits in Agadem where the Chinese are already operating.

Despite local production, the black market for hydrocarbons is flourishing in Niamey and in the big cities. According to Nigerien customs, this market “is regularly supplied by networks in Nigeria” neighbor and giant oil producer. On the black market, a liter of gasoline costs 300 CFA francs (0.45 euro) against 540 CFA francs (0.82 euro) at the pump, price “considered expensive” by the unions.

On Tuesday, the Nigerien President, Mohamed Bazoum, denounced the scale of “fuel smuggling” from neighboring Nigeria which has become a source of “terrorist supply” speak « niger river [en pirogues] and on motorcycles » to Mali. “We have to find a good answer” to cut ” The Terrorists “ from this source “refueling”urged the Nigerien president who spoke to the security forces in Dosso, the big city in the south-west near Nigeria.