Chad and Central African Republic argue over oil

Oil is the real cause of the current tension between Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR), which accuses its neighbour of backing last month's coup attempt, a CAR official said.
"The real problem is the oil in Doba," said government representative Gabriel Koyambounou, referring to a $ 3,7-bn oil and pipeline project between the Doba field of southern Chad and Cameroon.

The project -- the biggest of its kind in Africa -- could lift Chad, like CAR one of the poorest countries on the continent, to the brink of untold riches. Koyambounou said that CAR President Ange-Felix Patasse had as an opposition politician 20 years ago carried out geological studies that showed oil deposits in the north of the country near the border with southern Chad.
When he became president in 1993 he proposed to his Chadian counterpart Idriss Deby that the two countries jointly exploit the oil, the representative said, adding that Deby agreed to the proposal. But the Chadian president "was not honest" and undertook separate measures to exploit the oil, he continued.

Patasse claimed that the bulk of the oil reserves that Chad intends to exploit is actually under CAR territory, and that only a small part of it lies under Chadian soil, Koyambounou added. "The Central African Republic will produce oil. We are determined to go through with this," said the representative.
ExxonMobil, Petronas and Chevron are funding the project to drill 300 wells in the Doba field of southern Chad and construct a pipeline from the landlocked country through Cameroon to an offshore loading plant.

CAR was gripped by violence after a military insurrection against Patasse began on October 25. The rebellion was put down by government soldiers and Libyan troops who have helped guarantee Patasse's security. The Chadian government denied that it was involved in any way in the uprising.