7 Central African Countries Launch Oil Pipeline Network

An alliance between Central African countries including Angola, Cameroon, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea and Gabon have led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of a regional oil and gas pipeline network.

The project, tagged the Central African Pipeline System and Hub Infrastructure, will include storage depots, liquefied natural gas terminals, refineries, and gas-fired power plants.

The MoU, which was signed on 8th of September, 2022, by the seven countries, the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO), and the Central Africa Business Forum, will pave the way for feasibility studies, positioning Central Africa to boost energy supply within the region, reduce dependence on imports of refined products, and eradicate energy poverty by 2030.

Launched by Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons for Equatorial Guinea, at this year’s MSGBC Oil, Gas & Power 2022 Conference in Dakar, the pipeline system is expected to measure 6,500km and link 11 countries by the end of the decade.

The system will comprise three multinational pipeline systems, the Central North Pipeline System, linking Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Chad; the Central West Pipeline System, linking Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo; and the Central Southern Pipeline System, linking Angola, the DRC, Rwanda, and Burundi.

Delighted to witness the historic agreement, Secretary General for APPO, Omar Farouk Ibrahim, stated that "This shall take energy from areas of abundance to areas of need within the Central African subregion."