Oilmen brave war, disease to look for black gold in the heart of Africa скачать в хорошем качестве

Oilmen brave war, disease to look for black gold in the heart of Africa

With domestic drilling only able to provide for about 4 percent of its total petroleum consumption, Taiwan must still rely on imported oil to fulfill local demand. Since 2006, the state-owned petrochemical conglomerate CPC has been prospecting for oil in Africa, with four of its exploratory wells in the central African country of Chad having hit paydirt. But recent political instability in Chad coupled with the country’s severing of its diplomatic ties with Taiwan have significantly complicated CPC’s energy extraction efforts there. Located in the heart of Africa, the Republic of Chad is one of the world’s five poorest countries, and over 80 percent of its people are farmers and herders. With an inhospitable climate limiting the value of its annual agricultural production to under US$1.3 billion, Chad relies on the development of its oil resources to drive economic growth.Djerassem Le BemadjielMinister of Energy and Petroleum, ChadIt’s been a long time since oil fields were first found in Chad, but we only started to develop those resources in recent years. We drilled the first oil well in Chad before 1970, but it was only in 2003 that we first successfully extracted petroleum here.Chad’s estimated oil reserves stand at around 1.5 billion barrels using the US standard of measurement, and the country pumps out approximately 110,000 barrels of crude per day. An estimate based on these figures would put the lifespan of Chad’s petroleum reserves at around 36 years.Djerassem Le BemadjielMinister of Energy and Petroleum, ChadWe have grown from our first oil field to a current total of ten. Chad now hosts over 15 oil companies, and Taiwan’s CPC is one of the companies most active here. Since it drilled its first well in Chad in 2010, CPC has accumulated 12 wells in the country, four of which have struck oil so far. But it’s been anything but a smooth ride. In 2005, with its diplomatic relationship with Chad hanging in the balance, the Taiwanese government sought to shore up bilateral ties by having state-owned CPC invest in oil exploration in Chad. In August of the same year, Chad broke off its relations with Taiwan. Despite the lack of official diplomatic ties, CPC continued to explore and develop Chad’s hydrocarbon resources under its existing contract, but increasing internal instability in Chad started to pose a greater threat to CPC’s exploration activities.Tang Hsiu-mingCPC Chad Branch General ManagerIn 2008, a rebel army entered Chad’s capital N''Djamena, where they surrounded the president’s compound. At that point, my colleagues and I left to stay in Cameroon until things died down. After the war, we took a risk and boarded the first plane back to Chad. I remember when we arrived in the evening, the whole city was a scene of desolation.Upon its return, the CPC team was faced with the problem of where to find drinking water and food, and some members of the team even fell victim to a serious outbreak of infectious diseases, including malaria and cholera.Huang Yao-hungCPC Exploration and Production DivisionI was in Chad for two years and five months, and caught malaria once. My wife was there for one year and three months and caught it twice.Shih Hwei-hwangCPC Exploration and Production DivisionOf course we’re especially afraid of malaria infection, so tools like mosquito swatters and electric bug zappers were absolutely essential. During my experience in Chad, I really didn’t want to leave the protection of mosquito nets, and when I slept I had to put up a net to make myself feel at ease.With oil exploration in Chad such a difficult and dangerous business, why did they come to Chad to look for oil in the first place?Tang Hsiu-mingCPC Chad Branch General ManagerUs so-called “oilmen” are explorers, and we all have an ambition: to drill a high-production oil well that could supply Taiwan, which completely lacks traditional oil sources of its own. That would make everyone really happy.Aside from bringing additional resources to Taiwan, oil exploration can also help improve relations between countries.Huang Yao-hungCPC Exploration and Production DivisionWhen we were in Chad we’d go to nearby villages to do a bit of PR work and establish mutual ties, so when we were in the field, things could go forward more smoothly. The people of Chad like tea, candy, and soccer, so we brought soccer balls for them to play with.Liao Tsang-lungCPC Exploration and Production DivisionTo let us develop these sources of oil, the government of Chad assesses certain taxes on the oil we extract, and our extraction projects themselves help create jobs for the locals. I believe that our projects there allow the government of Chad, the officials there and the people of Chad to better know and understand Taiwan. I think it’s beneficial for the growth of friendship between our two nations.In 2011, flames leaped out of CPC’s Benoy-1 well, th...