The 1,950km NBEP (1,275km Niger + 675km Benin; Agadem field to Cotonou), built and operated by CNPC/PetroChina, was commissioned November 2023, with exports finally flowing May 2024 after Chinese-mediated resolution of the Niger–Benin border dispute. Niger’s coup-era squeeze peaked with an April 2024 MOU awarding CNPC the right to market the state’s 25.4% share for US$400m of pre-financing; a June 2024 pipeline attack and renewed dispute halted flows until August 2024, when a 1m-barrel cargo (Aura M) loaded at Cotonou.
Initial capacity is 90–110 kbopd, expandable toward 300 kbopd with pumping stations, the backbone of Niger’s ambition to lift output to 200 kbopd.
Value: CNPC’s US$400m state-share deal; Africa’s longest oil pipeline (verified against public announcements).
Advisers: CNPC’s counsel and Niger’s advisers were not publicly credited.
Recorded by The Meridian research desk from public announcements, regulatory filings and financial press coverage. Dates and values are as publicly reported.
