Where Exxon Group Plans Chad-Cameroon Crude Pipeline (78294 bytes)
A group led by a unit of Exxon Corp. plans to lay a 650 mile crude oil pipeline from oil fields in Chad to a marine terminal on Cameroon's Atlantic coast.
Esso Exploration & Production Chad, Ste. Shell Tchadienne de Recherches et d'Exploitation, and Elf Hydrocarbures Tchad signed a framework agreement with the governments of Chad and Cameroon last week in Yaounde covering the main terms of pipeline transportation from three oil fields in southern Chad's Doba basin across Cameroon to the offshore export terminal near the town of Kribi.
PROJECT DETAILS
The pipeline accord is part of a proposed project that calls for drilling about 300 wells to produce several hundred million barrels of oil from three fields southwest of Doba, Chad. Productive capacity is pegged at 150,00-250,000 b/d.
Produced oil will be sent to a central processing facility and then shipped through the pipeline, which is expected to have a diameter greater than 24 in. The crude then would be exported via tankers to world markets from the Kribi terminal. Plans call for installation of four pump stations, including three in Cameroon.
A final decision on developing Kome, Miandoum, and Bolobo oil fields in the Doba basin requires completion of exploration and engineering studies.
Further exploration is under way in the area, and the Esso group is continuing technical and economic studies to better define field reserves and cut development costs while pursuing environmental studies.
Elf acquired a 20% interest in the Block H hydrocarbon license containing the three fields from Chevron Corp. (OGJ, Feb. 1, 1993, p. 25).
PIPELINE ACCORD
The pipeline framework agreement deals with key commercial, financial, legal, and operating terms under which a pipeline company would be formed to lay and operate the Cameroon portion of the crude oil export system.
Cameroon, through its state owned Ste. Nationale des Hydrocarbures, will own a 15% interest in the proposed pipeline company. Chad also is expected to take an equity stake in the pipeline.
Another affiliate of Exxon let contract in 1993 to Gulf Interstate Engineering Co., Houston, for preliminary engineering services for the pipeline project.
Copyright 1995 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
