Radio Free Asia published on 17 December 2024 an article titled "CNOOC East Africa Oil Exploitation: Forced Evictions, Sexual Violence and Human Rights Abuses" (in Chinese) by Tang Yuanyuan.
China National Offshore Oil Corporation and TotalEnergies are engaged in a major oil development project in Uganda that has been accused of numerous human rights abuses.
Agence France Presse published on 9 July 2024 an article titled "No Oil, No Food: Damaged Pipeline Piles Misery on South Sudan."
South Sudan's oil dependent economy faces huge problems as a result of the rupture of a key oil pipeline that passes through war-torn Sudan. South Sudan is losing about 70 percent of its oil revenue because of the rupture.
The South China Morning Post published on 13 July 2024 an article titled "As Crises Hit Plagued Niger-Benin Oil Pipeline, It May Be Up to China to End the Deadlock" by Jevans Nyabiage.
A dispute between Niger and Benin is blocking the export of Niger's oil through a port in Benin. A Chinese company financed, built, and operates the pipeline. It may be up to China to resolve the dispute so that Niger's oil can reach the world market.
The BBC posted on 22 June 2024 an article titled "Niger Confirms Anti-Junta Rebels Behind Oil Attack" by Lucy Fleming and Tchima Illa Issoufou.
Niger has confirmed that the Patriotic Liberation Front fighting for the release of deposed President Mohamed Bazoum was behind the attack on a Chinese-operated oil pipeline last week. There is also an ongoing dispute between Niger and Benin, where the pipeline discharges its oil for export.
Agence France Presse published on 16 June 2024 an article titled "Six Nigerien Soldiers Killed Guarding Pipeline to Benin."
Armed bandits killed 6 Nigerien soldiers protecting a 1,200-mile-long pipeline from oil fields in Niger to a port in Benin. The pipeline is operated by the Nigerien Chinese oil company Wapco Niger, which is a subsidiary of the China National Petroleum Corporation.
Deutsche Welle published on 12 June 2024 an article titled "Benin-Niger Oil Export Row Flares Again" by Rodrigue Guezodje and Kate Hairsine.
The attack cited above coincided with a charge from Niger that Benin kidnapped 5 Nigerien nationals affiliated with the pipeline. As a result, Niger shut down the pipeline. Until oil begins to flow again, all three parties--Niger, Benin, and CNPC--are losers.
The Arab Weekly published on 29 May 2024 an article titled "Repaired Sudan Oil Pipeline, a Key Source of Revenue for Juba, to Resume Operation."
Oil provides 90 percent of South Sudan's foreign exchange earnings. One of its two pipelines, which carries two-thirds of its total oil exports, has been out of service since February due to the civil war in Sudan. The rupture of the Chinese-Malaysian pipeline has been repaired and oil can flow again once the waxy crude has been flushed through the line.
The South China Morning Post published on 21 May 2024 an article titled "After Talks with China, Benin Eases Oil Export Ban against Niger."
Benin allowed a shipment of crude oil that arrived by a Chinese-built pipeline from Niger to depart for China following discussion with a delegation from state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation. China has considerable economic leverage with both countries and likely used it to end their dispute, thus allowing the oil to depart by ship.
The International Crisis Group published on 15 May 2024 a commentary titled "South Sudan on Edge as Its Neighbor's War Disrupts Oil Exports."
The civil war in Sudan has severely disrupted oil transported by pipeline from South Sudan to Port Sudan, depriving southerners of petrodollars, the government's main source of revenue. One of these pipelines, responsible for about two thirds of South Sudan's oil exports, broke down in February and will require months of complex repairs that must be made amid active combat.
South Sudan's government will run out of money and the national currency's value will plunge. Chronic food shortages will worsen, presaging renewed instability and fighting.
Business Insider published on 9 May 2024 an article titled "Benin Blocks China's First Oil Shipment from Niger over Border Feud" by Adekunle Agbetiloye.
The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) constructed a 1,200-mile pipeline to transport oil from Niger to a port on the Atlantic Ocean in Benin, as part of a $4.6 billion Chinese investment in Niger's oil sector. Benin restricted the first export of fuel by ship from its port in retaliation for the Nigerien military government's continuing closure of the border with Benin, thus preventing the shipment of goods by truck from Benin to Niger. In the meantime, CNPC is caught in the middle of the dispute between these two countries.
The South China Morning Post published on 29 March 2024 an article titled "Niger Cosies Up to 'New Friends' China and Russia Just Days After Sending US Military Packing" by Jevans Nyabiage.
The new military regime in Niger pushed France out of the country several months ago and has now asked the US military, which had a counterterrorism base in the country, to leave. Russia and China were quick to move in behind France and the United States. Russia is seeking military cooperation while China is more interested in protecting it long-standing oil interests.
Aljazeera published on 26 March 2024 an article titled "South Sudan on the Brink after Oil Exports Derailed by Sudan's Civil War" by Mat Nashed.
All oil produced in South Sudan passes through war torn Sudan where it is exported from the Red Sea at Port Sudan. The oil pipeline was damaged last month in an area controlled by Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. It has not been possible to repair the pipeline because of ongoing fighting, raising fears that South Sudan's economy could collapse.
The pipeline accounts for as much as three-quarters of South Sudan's oil revenue, which, in turn, accounts for 90 percent of the country's revenue. Most of the oil revenue supports the ruling leadership in Juba, which faces elections in December.
The East African published on 15 January 2024 an article titled "EACOP Partners Race against Time to Close $3bn Financing Deal with China Lenders" by Julius Barigaba.
Developers of the oil pipeline that will transport crude from western Uganda to Tanzania's port of Tanga remain hopeful but concerned about the willingness of China's Sinosure and Export-Import Bank to provide $3 billion in debt financing. Environmental activists have opposed the project, which would be the world's longest heated pipeline in order to permit the flow Uganda's low sulphur crude. Western banks earlier dropped out of the project as a result of opposition by the activists.
French major TotalEnergies is the lead investor in the pipeline project with a 62 percent stake, the Ugandan government and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation each with a 15 percent stake, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation with an 8 percent stake.
The South China Morning Post published on 22 November 2023 an article titled "China Targeted by Climate Campaigners over Controversial East Africa Oil Pipeline Project" by Jevans Nyabiage.
Environmental activists in Uganda, Tanzania, DRC and elsewhere are pressuring Chinese financers to back out of an oil pipeline project that runs from Ugandan oilfields to Port Tanga on Tanzania's Indian Ocean coast. The activists say the pipeline threatens pristine ecosystems, biodiversity hotspots, water resources, and community land.
Türkiye's Anadolu Agency news service published on 5 September 2023 an article titled "China to Mediate in Niger Crisis" by James Tasamba.
China's ambassador to Niger announced that the Chinese government intends to play the role of mediator to find a political solution to the crisis in Niger. China has invested in Niger's oil sector and is building an oil pipeline from southern Niger to the port of Seme in Benin.
Reuters published on 31 July 2023 an article titled "China's Oil and Uranium Business in Niger" by Andrew Hayley.
China is Niger's second largest foreign investor, mainly in uranium and oil, after France. A Chinese company is also laying a 1,200 mile oil pipeline (63 percent complete) between the Agadem field and the Beninese port city of Cotonou.
The South China Morning Post published on 21 May 2023 an article titled "China Doubles Down on Controversial African Pipeline as Western Leaders Walk Away" by Jevans Nyabiage.
Strong opposition by environmental and human rights groups have minimized Western lending for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline from Uganda's Lake Albert oilfields to the port of Tanga in Tanzania. China's Export-Import Bank and several other Chinese banks have agreed to finance the controversial project.
The New York Times published on 14 March 2023 a feature article titled "An Oil Rush Threatens National Splendors Across East Africa" by Abdi Latif Dahir with numerous photographs by Arlette Bashizi.
A multibillion-dollar oil drilling and pipeline project is displacing thousands of people in Uganda and Tanzania, and ravaging wildlife habitat. The oil drilling, which is already underway, occurs along Lake Albert in Uganda. The pipeline will go south from Lake Albert through Uganda and then continue the length of Tanzania through game parks to the Indian Ocean port of Tanga. France's TotalEnergies and China National Offshore Oil Corporation are managing the project.
The Associated Press published on 24 January 2023 an article titled "Uganda Begins Oil Drilling, Hopes for Production by 2025."
The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has begun drilling in a Chinese-operated field near Lake Albert in Uganda. The goal is to start production by 2025.
The Pulitzer Center published on 30 December 2022 an article titled "Fear and Oil in Uganda" by Sophie Neiman.
The plan to build the 900 mile long East African Crude Oil Pipeline from Lake Albert in Uganda to the Tanzanian coast has stirred controversy among the people it will affect along the way. The French company TotalEnergies holds a 62 percent share in the project, the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation an 8 percent share, and the remainder held by the Ugandan and Tanzanian governments.
