By Emmanuel Tumanjong
Special to DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
YAOUNDE, Cameroon--Chad's crude oil exports rose 51% in the
first four months of this year, as a Chinese firm began pumping oil
through the Chad-Cameroon pipeline, according to a statement
released Tuesday by a Cameroonian group that oversees the
pipeline.
Chad exported 15.76 million barrels of crude oil between January
and April, up from 10.46 million barrels a year ago, said the
Pipeline Steering and Monitoring Committee, or PSMC, headquartered
in Yaounde. The landlocked country exported 27.6 million barrels
last year.
Oil from Chad's southern oil fields in Kome are pumped through a
1,080 kilometer pipeline to Cameroon's Atlantic port of Kribi. The
pipeline is operated by Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), Chevron Corp.
(CVX) and Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd.
The increase is largely due to new oil being pumped by China
National Petroleum Corporation, or CNPC, according to Cameroon-born
Adolphe Moudiki, who heads the PSMC.
China Petroleum this year became the third oil producer to start
using the Chad/Cameroon pipeline, joining Canada's Griffiths Energy
International Inc. and a consortium run by Exxon Mobil, Chevron and
Petroliam Nasional.
Mr. Moudiki doubles as the executive general manager of the
National Hydrocarbon Co., or SNH, which manages Cameroon's oil
industry and hosts PMSC in Yaounde.
Cameroon received $20.49 million in pipeline royalties for the
first quarter, up 86% from the same period last year, Mr. Moudiki
said. The two countries agreed to a higher transit payment in
November 2013.
Write to Emmanuel Tumanjong at
realtimedesklondon@dowjones.com
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