Chad's oil in the pipelines

On July 15, Chad joined the club of oil producing countries.

"This is a very important day for us because the oil revenue will help us improve the life condition of our people," said Mr Mocktar WaWa Dahab, the Chadian communications minister.

According to authorities working in the oilfields of Doba, the first layer of the is flowing into the pipelines to the off-shore terminal of Kribi, at the south-west coast of the Atlantic ocean in Cameroon. It will take 2 months for this crude to reach the terminal and two more months for the first tanker to be loaded with the Chadian oil for Western markets. The Doba-Kribi pipeline distance is estimated at 1070 km.

The Doba oil exploitation has brought many challenges for the two ADPs (Bekodo Triangle ADP and Mango ADP) in the region. Many benevolent partners have left their villages to seek better wages with the oil companies. Some community schools were closed because there was no teacher available in the village as most have travelled to Bolobo, Miandoum and Komé oilfields to seek jobs.

Today, with the end of the pipeline construction works, many people have returned to their villages and are now enjoying the money they earned from the oil companies. Health issues will be a key aspect World Vision will face because many of these returnees have been exposed to sexually transmitted infections, dust and pollution. They are back home but have no money saved to respond to their ever growing social and medical problems.

The Doba oilfields were discovered in 1973 but the country's instability jeopardised its exploitation. It was only in 2000 that the World Bank gave the green light for work that will cost 3.7 billion of USD and will provide to the Chadian national budget, an additional yearly revenue of 2 billion of USD for at least 25 years.

The project is being implemented by a consortium of 3 oil companies, namely the American ExxonMobil with 40 percent of share, the Malaysian Petronas(35 percent) and Chevron, which holds 25 percent of the share. Chad has a 5 percent share in the oil sailing company TOTCO of Chad and 15 percent in its Cameroonian counterpart COTCO.

The project has drawn lot of criticisms both locally and internationally and the presence of the World Bank is meant to reassure civil society. A law was even issued by the government to clearly determine how the oil revenue will be used. According to that law, 10 percent of this fund will be put in a foreign account for "future generations", 5 percent will be used for the Doba people and 80 percent for development purposes.