China's First Niger Oil Shipment Is Blocked in a West African Border Dispute

In the midst of an ongoing border conflict with Niger as a result of a coup that installed a military junta in power and strained relations with other African countries, the West African republic of Benin has stopped China’s first shipment of crude oil from Niger.

Three ships carrying China’s first crude oil imports from the military junta in Niger arrived in Benin, but the authorities forbade them from docking at the port.

Benin’s President, Patrice Talon, stated in a statement obtained by Business Insider Africa, “You can’t view Benin as an enemy and at the same time expect your oil to cross our territory if you want to load your oil in our waters.” “We are willing to collaborate with Niger. It was they who insisted on preventing trucks from

According to Bloomberg, Niger’s military junta agreed to a $400 million commodity-backed loan from China National Petroleum Corp., with a 7% interest rate and an oil repayment schedule of 12 months, which included the oil destined for China.

In addition, CNPC has made over $4.6 billion in oil industry investments in Niger, including building a 1,200-mile pipeline to carry crude oil from Niger to Benin. 90,000 bpd was scheduled to start shipping through the pipeline in May, with a maximum capacity of 110,000 bpd.

The coup in Niger last July, in which the military junta took control and sealed the country’s land border with Benin, upended the agreement and subjected Niger to sanctions. The sanctions have been lifted, but Niger has maintained closed borders with Benin and is now using the most recent oil shipment destined for China as leverage. The junta in Niger has not yet responded to Benin’s remarks as of this writing.