Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project

"For several years, preparations have been under way for a major petroleum development project in the African nations of Chad and Cameroon. The Chad–Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project involves the drilling of some 300 oil wells in the Doba Basin region of Chad, 300 km south-east of the capital, N’Djamena. To transport the produced oil for export to international markets, the project also requires the construction of a pipeline measuring 1070 km, stretching across Cameroon to the port of Kribi, on the Atlantic coast.

"The project, expected to last 25 years, will have impacts and benefits in both countries, but mainly in Chad, which is among the world’s poorest nations. According to World Bank Group estimates, fiscal revenues could reach a yearly average of US$20 million in Cameroon and US$80 million in Chad.

"The members of the international consortium entrusted with running the overall project to produce and export the oil from Chad are:


 * ExxonMobil (U.S.A., 40%);
 * Petronas (Malaysia, 35%);
 * Chevron (U.S.A., 25%).

"Two companies constituted under Chadian and Cameroonian law are also involved in the construction and operation of the pipeline: the Chad Oil Transportation Company (TOTCO), partly owned by the Government of Chad, and the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company (COTCO), partly owned by Governments of Chad and Cameroon (Source: The World Bank and International Finance Corporation - Report No: 19343 / April 13, 2000 on the World Bank Group Website).

"In order for the project to contribute to poverty reduction and to improve the well-being of populations, the World Bank Group has set up and is financing a number of initiatives whose purpose is to increase the institutional capacity of Chad and Cameroon to manage the petroleum development project. Measures have been taken to ensure that revenues from the petroleum project are allocated to social and economic development for the poorest populations.

"In 1998, the Government of Chad submitted and the Parliament adopted the Oil Revenues Management Act. It calls for oil revenues to be allocated in the main to education, health, and infrastructure development programs, as well as to the creation of a long-term savings account designed to benefit future generations. The text of the law may be consulted in Attachment 2 of the IBRD/IDA Project Information Document, available through the World Bank Group website.

"To ensure the success of the project from the environmental and social perspectives, along with respect of the commitments of all parties involved, the World Bank and the governments of Chad and Cameroon have appointed several monitoring groups, among them an independent supervisory panel: the International Advisory Group, or IAG."

Members

 * Mamadou Lamine Loum
 * Jacques Gérin
 * Jane Guyer
 * Abdou El Mazide Ndiaye
 * Dick de Zeeuw