Chad leader wants majority stake in oil output

N’DJAMENA (Reuters) – Chad must have a 60 percent stake in its oil output after receiving only “crumbs” from a foreign consortium running the industry, President Idriss Deby said on Tuesday.

Such a stake would match the share held in the consortium by two companies, U.S. major Chevron Corp. and Malaysia’s Petronas, which Deby ordered to leave the country three days ago.

He says the two are refusing to pay taxes owed totaling 250 billion CFA francs ($486.2 million).

Chevron, the No. 2 U.S. oil company, confirmed on Tuesday it had received notification from the Chadian government to discontinue operations because of the dispute over taxes. Petronas has said it is seeking clarification.

Reuters