Plans for construction of the crude evacuation pipeline from Niger Republic to the Seme Port in Benin Republic has been halted on account of the Coronavirus, which has killed close to 3,000people and infected over 80,000 around the world.
The Chinese CNODC (a JV of China National Petroleum Corporation CNPC and Petrochina, was forced to stop the construction of the 2,000kilometre pipeline, barely a month after it received the required construction permit from Niger’s government.
The instruction to hold up construction came from the contractor itself, for fear of coronavirus spreading amongst the staff as it could not guarantee that newly-arriving specialists from China would not be carrying the virus into Western Africa.
The line was expected to be commissioned in early 2022, and was planned to evacuate crude oil from the CNPC. operated Agadem field to the Atlantic coast.
