Minister: Chad To Double Oil Output By 2016, Develop Minerals

Bedoumra said output would increase from the Mangara and Badila fields, which are operated by mining company Glencore Xstrata, and a new field managed by a China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) subsidiary.

Chad earlier this year suspended CNPC's further exploration activity, citing violations of environmental standards while it was drilling for crude oil in the south of the country.

It has ordered the company to pay a $1.2 billion fine, for which it filed a claim at the international arbitration court in Paris, and has cancelled five exploration licences held by CNPC, warning that if the fine is not paid it will re-auction them.

Gold, Mineral Potential

Bedoumra said Chad was trying to finally unlock mineral resources after appointing firms, including French consultancy BRGM on a 3.5 year contract, to identify potential sites.

"It's not just oil that we have underground. There are strong indications of gold, nickel, uranium and other minerals. We appointed consultants to identify what there is," he said.

He said GPB Global Resources, a unit of Russia's state-owned Gazprombank Group which in 2012 was awarded a five-year licence to explore for gold in southern Chad, had seen "positive" results and could begin exploiting its field in 2015.

Since seizing power in a 1990 coup, President Idriss Deby has won a series of elections disputed by international observers and faced allegations of graft and rights abuses. He has weathered several rebellions, the most recent in 2008.