Nigeria has enough gas to supply across Africa for a long time, but…— Walter Perez
Chief executive officer of the West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAPCo), Walter Perez has said Nigeria has enough gas to supply all of Africa for a long time.
Speaking in Lagos at the Natural Gas Business Forum 2017 organised by the Nigerian Gas Association (NGA), he explained that “with reserves of 187 trillion cubic feet of gas Nigeria can feed the entire continent in gas supplies, but has been fraught with several challenges, which have made gas supply inefficient even in Nigeria”.
According to him, the company’s main mandate is to transport natural gas from Nigeria to customers in Benin, Togo and Ghana in a safe, responsible and reliable manner, at prices competitive with other fuel alternatives.
According to him, “When the pipeline was built, it was constructed so that the gas from Escravos and Utorogu (in Nigeria) can flow into our pipeline in a place called Itoki in Ogun State. Now, we envision that gas will enter the pipeline from many locations, the first of which is Takoradi (Ghana).
“One time, Takoradi was thought to be the major off-taker for the West Africa gas pipeline. At this point, in a year’s time, we will be reversing the flow from Takoradi to Tema, using the West African gas pipeline.”
Perez further hinted that the West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAPCo) has embarked on alternative source of transporting gas from Republic of Benin, which is gradually becoming an oil-producing country, for other West African countries.
