Chad Basin depth of . Due to heavy pumping, since the start of the 1980s the water levels in both aquifers has been lowered, and some wells no longer function. There is a third, much lower, aquifer in Bima Sandstones that lies at a depth of . Both the current and historical areas of the basin and the mega-basin contain concentrations of fossils. Fossil-fuels deposits in the area are estimated to exceed a trillion barrels in reserves. The Lake Chad Basin Commission was set up in 1964 by Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, the four countries that contain parts of Lake Chad.
Chad–Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project which provided $46.6 million to finance Cameroon and Chad's equity in COTCO and TOTCO. Included in plans for the project was a revenue management law developed by the World Bank. This separated the oil revenues given to Chad into four required areas: a Future Generations Fund, health, education and other development projects, a fund to compensate the Doba region of Chad from where the oil was extracted and government reserves. The revenue management law also created the Petroleum Revenue Oversight Committee, which oversees how the oil revenues are spent, and includes members of both the Chadian government and civil society.