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"Oil plays an important role" in the current struggle between forces loyal to Chadian President Idriss Deby and rebels determined to drive him from power, said Philippe Vasset, editor of a newsletter .

"While the conflict is essentially political, reflecting lingering communal resentments, there is also a significant bounty to share," he said.

Nicolas Sarkis of the magazine Petrole et gaz arabes, noting that oil is Chad's principal resource, said "the opposition accuses the government of having sold off the riches of the country."

For Philippe Hugon, a researcher specialising in African economic affairs, "the oil wealth has been partially siphoned off and wasted on arms spending and on building up the personal fortunes of people close to Idriss Deby."

Under terms of an agreement with the World Bank, Chadian authorities are required to allocate 70 per cent of the country's oil earnings to development in exchange for Bank financial support for a 1,000-kilometre pipeline between Chad's Doba oil field and the Cameroonian port of Kribi.

But Chad's major creditors last year complained that Deby's government was not respecting the 70 per cent obligation, notably because of an increase in military spending.