Petroleum industry in Niger

[3][4] However, it was in the Agadem Basin, located in the north-east of the Niger, that exploration began in 1970 with first Texaco, then Esso prospecting until 1980.

Ten wells will be drilled in Agadem block which covers an area of 27,516.2 square kilometres (10,624.1 sq mi).

The block thus fell back in the public domain of the State with an estimated 324 million barrels of oil reserves and nearly 10,000,000,000 cubic metres (3.5×1011 cu ft) of gas.

The reserves previously considered meager became more attractive and in 2008, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) through its exploration and development company CNODC acquired the permit on the Agadem block.

[1] Since 2012, exploration has intensified with production-sharing contracts signed with international firms from Nigeria, Australia, UK and Bermuda.

Oil is extracted from the Agadem field and transported through an underground 426.5 kilometres (265.0 mi) long pipeline to the Soraz refinery near Zinder.

[9] Development of the oilfields at Agadem and an export pipeline connecting Niger to the Atlantic Ocean are supposed to increase production to 110,000 barrels per day.

[9] In December 2023, de-facto president Abdourahamane Tiani announced that the country would aim to refine more oil locally.

[2] In April 2024, Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine entered into a 12-month agreement with CNPC, awarding the rights to the sale of the Nigerien state's share of the exported oil (25.4 percent).