Two oil companies told to leave Chad

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, August 26, 2006

N’DJAMENA, Chad – Chad’s president on Saturday ordered oil companies Chevron Corp. and Petronas to leave the country, saying neither has paid taxes and his country will take responsibility for the oil fields they have overseen.

In remarks on state-run radio, President Idriss Deby gave the companies – part of the African country’s oil production consortium that is led by Exxon Mobil – a deadline of just 24 hours to start making plans to leave.

“Chad has decided that as of (today), Chevron and Petronas must leave Chad because they have refused to pay their taxes,” Deby said.

Deby said Chad, which is one of Africa’s newest oil producers and is setting up a national oil company, would take over the oil fields that have been overseen by the American and Malaysian companies and account for some 60 percent of its oil production.

A spokesman for Exxon Mobil said by e-mail that neither his company, nor affiliate Esso Chad has been asked to leave the country.

If the two companies are evicted, Chad could seek help from China, which has taken an active interest in Africa in its search for raw materials like oil and metals.