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 immunity and detained for nine months. In November 2000, the World Bank announced that $4 million of a $25 million signing bonus from the oil companies was spent by the Chadian government on weapons. The World Bank required tight restrictions on oil revenues as a condition of its loans. In January 2006, Chad moved to unilaterally increase the portion of oil revenues going to its general fund from 15 to 30 percent. On 28 August 2006, President Déby ordered Chevron and Petronas to quit the country. In Chad and especially Cameroon, through which the pipeline stretches 890 km of the