Benin has started to build the domestic part of the Niger-Benin oil pipeline that will stretch over 1,982 km, including 1,298 km in Niger and 684 km in Benin. The oil pipeline project, which will connect the Agadem extraction site in Niger to the deep-water port of Sèmè -Kpodji in Benin, has been under construction in Niger since September 2019 and the Niger section is expected to be completed by 2022. It will enable to deliver 4.5 Mt/year of oil and could help Benin become a hub for crude oil export for West Africa.
The US$4.5bn project is financed by the West Africa Oil Pipeline Company (WAPCO), a subsidiary of the China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Co. (CNODC, part of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)). The Chinese group China Petroleum Engineering Construction Co. (CPEC) will build the Benin section under a US$386m procurement, construction and trial operation and commissioning service contract.