Niger resumes oil exports through Benin after pipeline reopened

Niger is resuming oil exports after reaching an agreement with neighboring Benin following a recent border spat, government officials said.

Crude shipments from the West African nation were halted in June when Niger closed a China National Petroleum Corp.-operated pipeline that links the Agadem oil field to the Sèmè Kpodji terminal in Benin.

“We’ve reached an agreement,” Benin Energy Minister Samou Adambi said by phone on Monday. “Loading of crude started this morning.”

Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine’s office confirmed the resumption of oil exports.

Niger is reliant on the so-called Niger-Benin Export Pipeline, built by CNPC as part of a $4.6 billion in the country’s petroleum industry, to repay a $400 million oil-for-cash loan from the state-owned Chinese company. Niger plans to repay the debt using revenue generated by oil shipments.