China starts work on oil refinery in NigerChina on Monday started building a billion-dollar oil refinery near Niger's second city of Zinder, public radio said. Niger President Mamadou Tandja presided over a ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the construction of the refinery to process locally produced oil. With a capacity to process 20,000 barrels per day Barrels per day (abbreviated BPD, bbl/d, bpd, bd or b/d) is a measurement used to describe the amount of crude oil (measured in barrels) produced or consumed by an entity in one day. , the refinery which will be built over three years, is part of a deal Niger sealed in early June with the China National Oil and Gas Development Exploration Corporation (CNODC CNODC China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation CNODC China National Oceanographic Data Center ). The contract grants CNODC oil rights to prospect, explore and produce petroleum in Agadem in the southeastern Diffa region. Western companies have been prospecting for oil in Niger's Agadem region in the northern area of Agadez since 1985, but concluded that the estimated 324 million barrels there were not lucrative enough to prospect and drill. The pact between the Niger government and CNODC will see the company invest about 300 million dollars (194 million euros) to explore and drill 18 new wells in the coming eight years. Anti-corruption watchdog, the Network of Organisations for Transparency and Budgetary Analysis (ROTABAS) has denounced the secrecy surrounding the CNODC contract, insisting authorities should make public all the details. It demanded a parliamentary enquiry into the contract and deplored the absence of a feasibility study "A Feasibility Study" is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 13 April, 1964, during the first season. It was remade in 1997 as part of the revived The Outer Limits series with a minor title change. on the environmental impact of refinery plant in the area. In June, the Sympamine mining union said the deal with the CNODC "took place in the greatest of secrecy and with contempt for regulation." Sympamine has also said the Agadem site has some 10 billion cubic metres Noun 1. cubic metre - a metric unit of volume or capacity equal to 1000 liters cubic meter, kiloliter, kilolitre metric capacity unit - a capacity unit defined in metric terms (353 billion cubic feet) of natural gas not mentioned in extracts from the contract published in the media. Since 2006, China has reinforced its economic ties with the impoverished im·pov·er·ished adj. 1. Reduced to poverty; poverty-stricken. See Synonyms at poor. 2. Deprived of natural richness or strength; limited or depleted: West African West Africa A region of western Africa between the Sahara Desert and the Gulf of Guinea. It was largely controlled by colonial powers until the 20th century. West African adj. & n. nation of Niger, helping the former French colony to tap its vast uranium uranium (y  rā`nēəm), radioactive metallic chemical element; symbol U; at. no. 92; at. wt. 238.0289; m.p. 1,132°C;; b.p. 3,818°C;; sp. gr. 19. wealth, one of the largest in the world.
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