Table of Contents and Snapshot Summary (PDF)

Chapter 2 - Construction, Commissioning & Production (PDF)

As the year 2003 came to a close, the Project was on target to reach full production status as scheduled.

- Commissioning of the final facilities needed to reach full production will begin in the first quarter of 2004 with peak production levels expected by mid-2004.

- In the fourth quarter, the Project exported nine tankers of Chadian crude oil through the marine terminal located near Kribi, Cameroon.

Drilling crews have made substantial progress in the second of three oilfields located in southern Chad that are being developed by the Project.

- All five of the Project's oil rigs were working in the Komé oilfield after completing the drilling program in the Miandoum field.

- Based on progress to date, the Project anticipates that crude oil from the Komé oilfield will begin flowing into the system in the first quarter of 2004.

- A total of 115 wells had been drilled in the three oilfields as 2003 ended, about 45% of the planned number.

Mechanical construction of the central oilfield facility near Komé, Chad, was almost finished, having approached the 99% completed mark. Two key components of the central oilfield facility were a primary focus of year end construction activity, the Komé Gathering Station and the Central Treating Facility.

Chapter 3 - Reportable EMP Situations (PDF)

A total of four minor Environmental Management Plan non-compliance situations were recorded in the fourth quarter of 2003. There were no reportable spills in the quarter.

- All four of the non-compliance situations were classified at Level I, the lowest level of non-compliance.

- The total number of non-compliance situations was down by 85% in 2003 compared to 2002, a reflection of the Project's continuously improving level of EMP compliance and the shifting nature of the work as the Project transitions from the construction phase to the production phase.

Chapter 4 - Safety (PDF)

A total of two Lost Time Incidents were recorded in the fourth quarter of 2003. Overall, the Project significantly improved its safety performance in 2003, based on a trend analysis of its cumulative safety record.

- The year-on-year cumulative Recordable Incident Rate improved by 14%, achieving a rate of 0.43 incidents per 200,000 worker hours at the end of 2003.

- The year-on-year cumulative Lost Time Incident Rate improved by 20% to a rate of 0.04 incidents per 200,000 worker hours at the end of 2003.

- The 2003 annual traffic accident tally was 30% lower than it was in 2002, with 97 accidents recorded in 2003 compared to 136 accidents the year before.

Chapter 5 - Consultation & Communication (PDF)

The Project conducted over 570 public consultation sessions in the fourth quarter of 2003, reaching nearly 12,000 people.

- The social closure process has nearly been completed in Cameroon. In the first phase, consultation teams visited 294 communities along the pipeline route and the upgraded road to document the socioeconomic aspects of the Project and identify any remaining grievances. The teams have made considerable progress on a series of additional visits to these same communities to finish the closure process.

- The Project has made available to academics and the general public a collection of scientific studies that provided the foundation for the Environmental Assessment and the Environmental Management Plan. Sets of the studies have been distributed to several libraries and other public repositories in both Chad and Cameroon.

The Project has finalized its dust control strategy for the oilfield area in southern Chad, addressing an important public consultation theme.

- One part of the strategy has already been implemented. A high-traffic road has been treated with industrial molasses.

- In addition, some high-traffic road segments will be paved with a form of asphalt called double bitumen surface treatment or DBST.

Chapter 6 - Compensation (PDF).

The Project has so far paid approximately 7.8 billion FCFA ($12 million) in cash and in-kind compensation to individual land users in Chad and Cameroon. Over 212 million FCFA ($326 thousand) was added to the total in the fourth quarter of 2003.

- In Chad, individual compensation distributed in the fourth quarter totaled 110 million FCFA ($169 thousand).

- In Cameroon, individual compensation paid in the fourth quarter was 102 million FCFA ($157 thousand).

The Project has again expanded its popular improved agriculture training program, an alternative offered to those eligible for resettlement in the oilfield area.

- Only 33 households have so far chosen to be physically resettled, as compared to the planning estimate of 150 stated in the Project’s environmental documentation. (No resettlement was expected in Cameroon and none has taken place.)

- A total of 92 households have chosen the improved agriculture training alternative, making it almost three times more popular than the physical resettlement option.

Chapter 7 - EMP Monitoring & Management Program (PDF)

A recent study concludes that the Project has had and will continue to have significant positive economic impacts in Chad.

- For the peak year of construction, 2002, the study found that economic effects due to the Project were equivalent to one-fifth (20.7%) of the country's entire Gross Domestic Product for the study's baseline year of 2000.

- For the first full year of peak crude oil production in 2005, the study predicts that the Project will generate economic activity in Chad equivalent to one-fourth (26.0%) of the country's entire Gross Domestic Product for the baseline year of 2000.

- The study also found that the mitigation measures implemented by the Project have been successful in preventing major inflationary effects.

Work has been completed on Project-funded archaeology facilities for the study and curation of the numerous artifacts discovered during construction work in Chad and Cameroon.

- A new building has been constructed on the campus of the University of N'Djaména in Chad.

- An existing government building in Yaoundé has been upgraded, renovated, and turned over to Cameroon's Ministry of Culture.

Chapter 8 - Local Employment (PDF)

The shift from the construction phase to the operations phase dominated the employment situation during the last half of 2003. Overall Project employment fell by about 1,000 workers in the fourth quarter to a total of just over 5,000 people.

Wages paid to Chadian and Cameroonian workers in the fourth quarter of 2003 totaled over 4.3 billion FCFA ($6.7 million).

- Total wage payments to Chadian workers approached 3.6 billion FCFA ($5.5 million).

- Total wage payments to Cameroonian workers were over 750 million FCFA ($1.2 million).

Chapter 9 - Local Business Development (PDF)

The Project spent 30.6 billion FCFA ($47.1 million) purchasing goods and services from Chadian and Cameroonian suppliers during the fourth quarter of 2003. The amount spent this quarter continues a downward trend coinciding with the transition from the construction phase to the operations phase. Total Project expenditures with local businesses fell nearly 16% compared to the previous quarter.

Chapter 10 - Worker Health (PDF)

Project clinics provided just over 8,000 worker medical consultations during the fourth quarter of 2003.

- The Project met its goal of training “first responders” to deal with first aid emergencies. A total of 10% of the construction workforce has now qualified as “first responders,” identified in the field by green crosses on their hard hats.

- The Project’s malaria prevention efforts have proven to be effective. For example, the malaria incident rate for the non-immune worker population declined by over 38% in 2003 to 7.02 cases per 200,000 work hours

Chapter 11 - Community Health (PDF)

The Project responded quickly to a severe cholera epidemic that struck the area around Dompta and Toubouro in northern Cameroon by flying a shipment of medicines to the government medical clinic in Gbengboy. The epidemic killed 22 people among a total of 133 recorded cases.

The Project-supported Roll Back Malaria campaign in Cameroon has distributed anti-mosquito bed nets in the fourth of its five targeted communities. This distribution was the largest to date, with 20,000 nets being given to the residents of the Bélabo area in the vicinity of Pump Station 3, along with training on malaria prevention.

Chapter 12 - Environmental Foundation (PDF)

Chapter 13 - Community Involvement (PDF)

A housing improvement program for the Bagyeli/Bakola people of southern Cameroon began in the fourth quarter. This initiative, which is part of the Project's community and regional compensation program in Cameroon, includes close collaboration with the Foundation for Environment and Development in Cameroon (FEDEC). Residents of eligible settlements have been supplied with building materials to construct model houses. Technicians hired by the Project provide hands-on training in improved house construction techniques.

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