Chad

Commentary

Security concerns have long hampered exploration in the CHB, and conflict in neighbouring Sudan is spilling over. The 2023 nationalisation of ExxonMobil's former assets and the ensuing arbitration underline expropriation risk. Outlook: Negative.

Updated

October 5, 2026

Location

Description

The CHB is filled with Lower Cretaceous to Neogene sedimentary rocks, ranging in thickness from about 3km to more than 12km that were deposited in fluvial, lacustrine, and marine environments. In the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian to Maastrichtian) there was a marine transgression resulting from a regional sag event that formed a broad basin in which shallow marine to marginal marine and coastal plain rocks accumulated. During the Late Cretaceous to Oligocene, the last rifting phase occurred in the Chad Basin and thick fluvial and lacustrine rocks were deposited.

Summary

The CHB is the largest intracratonic basin in north-central Africa, influenced by Cretaceous and Tertiary rifting. All exploration to date have reported associated gas, and the majority of oil fields to date have been focused on the Cretaceous Tertiary rift basins of Chad and Niger.