State-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) broke ground for new oil refineries in Chad and neighboring Niger, as the company continues to boost its ties with resource-rich countries in Africa. The refineries will be the first in each of the landlocked African countries, which remain desperately poor but have seen their state incomes surge during the resource boom of recent years.

The refinery is due to start refining 20,000 barrels a day (BPD) from 2011, rising later to 60,000 bpd. Chad currently produces 140,000-160,000 bpd of crude, all of which is exported, leaving the country to import all its fuel requirements1.

• 1. “China’s CNPC oil breaks ground on Chad and Niger Refineries,” Reuters, October 28, 2008, at http://asianenergy.blogspot.com/2008_10_26_archive.html