'We Will Integrate Central and West Africa'

Christian Lenoble, General Manager Cameroon Oil Transportation Company, COTCO.

What balance sheet do you make of 10 years of operation of COTCO in the Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline?

The first aspect of this project is the concrete achievement of the vision of the two Heads of State. This is a very unique case of regional integration between Chad and Cameroon and the large investment done by investors has allowed this vision to materialize. After ten years in operation, we can be proud of this achievement because COTCO has been able to fully develop and accomplish its mission of transporting crude oil coming from Chad through Cameroon to international markets.

Where do we go from here?

The perspectives of COTCO after ten years in operations are excellent. We have new shippers. There is a lot of development in the oil industry in Chad. Actually since October 2013, we have started to transport crude oil from a new shipper (operator) in Chad and we have a lot of projects to continue the transportation of new oil in 2014 and beyond.

The recent announcement coming from Niger with the bilateral agreement signed between Cameroon and Niger and between Chad and Niger will allow us to continue in the spirit of regional integration because now we will integrate not only central Africa but we will also integrate Central Africa with West Africa.

How far has COTCO gone with the adaptation of the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline to the Lom-Pangar hydroelectricity project?

We have progressed significantly. The latest survey we have done shows us that we are about 82 % complete. Our commitment was to finish the project in June 2014 and we are definitely going to meet our commitment.