Transit fee paid to the government of Cameroon for forwarding Chadian crude oil through its territory has moved from 0.41 US dollars (FCFA 194.91) per barrel to 1.30 dollars (about FCFA 618.02).

The Executive General Manager of the National Hydrocarbons Cooperation (SNH) and Chairman of the Pipeline Steering and Monitoring Committee, Adolphe Moudiki, and the General Manager of the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company (COTCO), Christian Lenoble, on October 29, 2013 signed an amendment to the initial convention with COTCO. The ceremony that took place at the head office of SNH in Yaounde was chaired by the Minister of Mines, Industries and Technological Development, Emmanuel Bonde.

The amendment therefore institutes a new rate of the transit fee and according to its terms, the transit fee will be updated every five years as per the annual inflation rates published by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) during the preceding five years. “The rate is applicable, without discrimination, to all shippers of crude oil originating from other countries and transported through the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline,” Cameroon Tribune reports.

It emerged from the ceremony that negotiations between Cameroon and COTCO took place between February 7 and August 1, 2013 in the presence of Chadian party. The negotiations were conducted for Cameroon by an ad hoc committee created by SNH comprising experts from SNH, the Pipeline Steering and Monitoring Committee as well as from the Ministries of Mines, Industries and Technological Development, Finance and Trade.

Records show that from October 3, 2003 when the operation of the Pipeline began to October 31, 2011, 410.42 million barrels of Chadian crude oil have been exported from the Komé-Kribi 1 terminal to international markets, generating a transit fee estimated at 168.29 million US dollars (about FCFA 84.62 billion) for Cameroon.

The transit fee is calculated on the basis of the quantities of crude oil lifted, which quantities are determined by the measuring system installed on the Komé-Kribi 1 terminal. The money is paid directly to the public treasury by COTCO.

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