Several weeks ago, we have looked into a very recent Russian initiative to increase their presence in the southern part of the Gulf of Guinea, encompassing a new product pipeline across the DRC, upstream interests in Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and the DRC. Although China is the prime buyer for the Congolese Djeno crude as well as for the Equatoguinean Zafiro, the future plans of Chinese companies are looking to the north of the Gulf of Guinea. China’s latest project is the Niger-Benin crude pipeline, a 1982km conduit that would create a new shipping outlet for crude produced by Chinese companies in Niger and Chad, simultaneously linking Niger to the existing Chad-Cameroon pipeline. China’s national oil company China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) dominates Niger’s oil industry, being the only company that produces oil (currently the output hovers around the 20kbpd mark). CNPC entered Niger in 2003, taking up vast swathes […]