The average annual amount over 6 fiscal years is thus 37 billion FCFA, marking a sustained increase in tax revenues related to the transportation of crude oil to international markets.

The budget performance recorded over the 2020-2025 period reveals a change in scale compared to the initial phase of commissioning. During the first 8 consecutive years of operation following the pipeline's start-up on October 3, 2003, the Pipeline Steering and Monitoring Committee recorded 85.5 billion FCFA in transit revenue, or an average of 10.7 billion FCFA per year. The recent annual financial flow has thus been multiplied by approximately 3.5, resulting in a surplus of 136.7 billion FCFA compared to the cumulative collection level of the first decade.

The increase in royalties is due to successive revisions of the transit tariff, initially set at $0.41 per barrel before rising to $1.321 per barrel following negotiations in 2013 and 2018. While a new tariff update is expected since October 1, 2023, the infrastructure continues to generate regular financial flows: by the end of May 2026, the royalties collected by the State had already reached 15.1 billion FCFA.

The economic implications of the pipeline go beyond the sole payment of transit royalties. During the 2004-2013 decade, the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company declared a total payment of 200 billion FCFA into the public coffers, an aggregate amount including corporate tax and various professional taxes in addition to customs duties. Although the calculation parameters integrate the fluctuation of global crude oil prices, variations in extracted volumes in Chadian fields, and changes in the exchange rate between the dollar and the common currency, the stability of regular payments confirms the structuring role of the oil corridor for the State budget. The finalization of suspended tariff negotiations remains the key variable to optimize tax revenues from the pipeline's operation for the rest of the decade.


Nlend Flore

Tags: pipeline tchad-cameroun droit de transit pétrole redevances économie tchad cameroun industrie pétrolière finances publiques