Niger has restarted crude oil exports through Benin following a dispute that had previously interrupted the flow via a new Chinese-funded pipeline to the West African coast, according to a pipeline company representative and ship tracking data.
The dispute began when Niger refused to lift its ban on goods imported from Benin, causing Benin to block oil exports through the PetroChina-backed pipeline in May. Niger halted oil flow through the pipeline in June.
On Wednesday, a West African Gas Pipeline Company (Wapco) agent confirmed that the Liberian-flagged tanker Aura M had loaded approximately one million barrels of Nigerien crude oil at a Benin port on Tuesday.
Ship tracking data from MarineTraffic revealed that the Liberian-flagged vessel Aura M was loaded and left the Benin port on Tuesday afternoon.
The ship is headed for China, with an expected arrival date of October 10. On Tuesday, it was last detected in the Gulf of Guinea off the West African coast.
The West African Gas Pipeline Company (Wapco) operates the pipeline, which has a capacity of 90,000 barrels per day and runs nearly 2,000 km (1,243 miles) from Niger’s Agadem oilfield to the coast of Benin. The pipeline began operations earlier this year.
Niger’s contentious ban on imports from Benin was linked to political disagreements within the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, which had imposed sanctions on Niger last year.
Although ECOWAS eventually lifted these sanctions, Niger did not lift its own ban on Benin imports.
It remains unclear how the dispute was resolved to enable the resumption of oil exports from Niger. Officials from Niger and Benin could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
A $400 million deal with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) underpins Niger’s crude oil exports through the pipeline.
The project has faced challenges due to regional political instability, including a sabotage incident in June by a Nigerien anti-government rebel group, which resulted in minor harm.