Chad says Chevron agrees to pay taxes owed

DAKAR, Sep 8 (Reuters) Chevron Corp has agreed to pay taxes Chad said the U.S. oil company owed to the central African state and it will continue to operate in the country, a Chadian presidency spokesman said on Friday.

''Chevron has agreed to pay the taxes to the Chadian treasury in the coming days ... it is staying (in the country),'' Dieudonne Djonabaye told Reuters by telephone from N'Djamena.

Djonabaye said the agreement had been reached during a meeting in Paris on Thursday between Chad President Idriss Deby and Chevron CEO Dave O'Reilly.

Deby last month ordered Chevron and Malaysia's Petronas, both partners in an oil producing consortium in Chad led by Exxon Mobil, to leave the country for failing to pay taxes he said they owed.

Djonabaye said no deal had yet been reached with Petronas on the tax issue.

REUTERS VJ ht2056