China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has started construction of a transnational pipeline that will carry crude from Niger's Agadem basin to Benin's Port Seme.
The construction start in early October is intended to ensure a first oil shipment in 2022 through the 1950-kilometre pipeline, which includes 675 kilometres running through Benin and 1275 kilometres through Niger.
The workscope being handled by CNPC pipeline outfit China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering includes engineering of the pipeline as well as procurement and construction of the Niger section and an offshore terminal, the company said.
Australian engineering house Worley carried out basic design of an offshore pipeline from Port Seme extending about 14.8 kilometres out to sea that will load the oil onto tankers for export via a single-buoy mooring system, sources said.
The offshore terminal will include one single-buoy mooring system with six mooring anchors, a pipeline-end manifold and two parallel 28-inch subsea pipelines.
The pipeline, which will include nine pumping stations, is designed to have throughput capacity of around 90,000 barrels per day, with oil primarily coming from CNPC's second-phase development in the Agadem basin.
CNPC achieved first oil from Agadem’s first phase in Niger in 2011. The second phase is planned to increase production capacity to more than 40 million barrels per annum.
