State-owned Chinese oil giant CNPC continues to produce and export oil from a newly expanded oilfield in Niger despite ongoing disputes with the local authorities, Reuters reported on Friday, quoting sources familiar with the situation.
CNPC set foot in Niger in the early 2000s, developed the Agadem oilfield there, built a refinery in southern Niger and a pipeline to a port in Benin.
The Chinese oil giant, which has invested over $5 billion in Niger’s oil industry so far, started production at the Agadem oilfield in 2011, at a rate of 20,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The field’s capacity has been recently increased to 90,000 bpd.
CNPC continues to export Nigerien crude via Benin, and total export sales have reached $2 billion, according to Reuters’ sources.
The crude production and exports continue despite the dispute with the military junta, which took power in a 2023 coup that ousted the elected President, Mohamed Bazoum.
The military junta leader, General Abdourahmane Tchiani, was sworn in in March 2025 as Niger’s President for a transitional period of five years.
The junta seeks to exert more control over Niger’s natural resources. Niger is estimated to hold significant oil reserves, as well as deposits of uranium, gold, and coal.
The military leadership, however, expelled Chinese expatriates earlier this year and insists that CNPC hire more local workers who are to account for 80% of the workforce at CNPC-led projects in Niger. Currently, the share of Nigerien workers at CNPC’s oil facilities in the country is below 30%.
The new regime also wants CNPC to bridge the gap in pay between local workers and Chinese expatriates.
Despite the dispute and ongoing talks, crude from the Agadem oilfield continues to flow to the local Soraz refinery and to Benin for exports on the international market, according to Reuters’ sources.
Source: oilprice.com
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