Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire sign gas pipeline agreement

Accra (Greater Accra) 7 April?99 The governments of Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire have signed an agreement with the United Kingdom and a British Company, Penspen Limited, for feasibility study to construct a gas pipeline between the two West African countries. The UK department of Trade and Industry will share the cost of the study estimated at 200,000 pounds sterling (about 800 million cedis) with Penspen Limited.

A statement issued by the British High Commission in Accra today said the agreement was signed by Mr Fred Ohene Kena and Mr Kablan Duncan, Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire Ministers of Mines and Energy. Others were Mr Tony Lloyd, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister, and an official of Penspen Limited. The study aims at exploring the economic feasibility of exporting gas from Cote d'Ivoire to Ghana. The statement said Ghana, with her intention to source more gas for power generation, had shown interest in recent onshore and offshore gas discoveries of Cote d'Ivoire.

Mr John Battle, Britain's Energy and Industry Minister, said the project is important and that the UK will like to see her continuing presence through the expertise of Penspen Limited. He expressed the hope that the signing of the agreement would serve as the beginning of a wider UK role in the development of energy projects in West Africa.