West Africa gas delayed
The scheduled startup of the West African gas pipeline, operated by Chevron
will be delayed until May, said Jack Derickson, managing director of the
West African Gas Pipeline Company.
The first gas had been expected to flow through the 678 km (420 mile)
pipeline, built to transport natural gas from Nigeria's Niger Delta to
Benin, Togo and Ghana, in April, following an earlier postponement from
December.
"We had a serious setback, in many ways, when one of our contractors was
shot and killed in Nigeria by armed robbers," Derickson said, without giving
further details, reported Reuters.
The $620 million project will produce first deliveries to the Takoradi
thermal facility in Ghana until May.
"There are a number of remaining items that need to be handled by various
parties prior to introducing hydrocarbons into the system. First deliveries
should be in May," he added.
The gas flow, from the Itoki terminal in southeastern Nigeria to the western
Ghanaian port city of Takoradi, will help ease chronic power shortages
around West Africa, seen as a major hindrance to development in the region.
The pipeline had originally been scheduled to start operating last December
but was delayed after leaks were detected in supply pipelines in Nigeria
which needed cleaning and repair.
Chevron has a 36.7% stake in WAGPCo.
Other shareholders include the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation,
Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell, Ghana's Takoradi Power Company, Societe
Togolaise de Gaz and Societe Beninoise de Gaz.
Ghanaian authorities said delays in the gas project's start-up have had
serious consequences, including huge losses for the Volta River Authority,
the country's main power utility.
With oil prices at record highs, the company has had to rely on light crude
to run its 550-megawatt plant in Takoradi instead of using much cheaper gas.
Ghana is reliant on hydroelectric power for most of its needs, and was
hard-hit by a prolonged drought in 2006 from which it has yet to fully
recover.
23 April 2008 17:24 GMT
| last updated:
23 April 2008 17:28 GMT
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