Azerbaijan Supplies Gas To Ghana, Benin

AS PART of its strategic alliance, British Gasol Plc has indicated that the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) will begin to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Ghana, Benin and Togo to power industries in these countries.

The announcement was made recently when Gasol signed the strategic alliance agreement with SOCAR Trading S.A. (STSA) in relation to its proposed LNG Import Project in Benin.

The commodity would be supplied to Ghana through a re-gasification vessel to be stationed at Benin’s Cotonou harbour.

“The project involves the re-gasification of LNG and the supply of that gas to power industrial customers in Ghana, Benin and Togo,” Gasol adds.

Alan Buxton, Chief Operating Officer at Gasol explains “Our alliance with STSA represents a major step towards our goal of bringing gas to Benin, Togo and Ghana, which remain significantly gas constrained in their power plants and industries.”

“We are delighted to be working with Gasol to help them unlock the value of their Benin LNG Import Project,” Head of Oil Trading at STSA, Hayal Ahmadzada, said.

Energy ministers from the sub-region recently expressed dissatisfaction with the West Africa Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo)’s inability to assure consumer states of the exact date it intended to resume the supply of gas supply since it shut down in August this year.

According to them, the economic and social cost of the continuous disruption of gas supply on the economies of the three consuming countries – Ghana, Togo and Benin – were unbearably huge and therefore it would be proper if the company mentioned the exact date it would resume gas supply.

The pipelines were shut down in August after the Togolese Navy informed the company of a cross fire that ensued between the Navy and a suspected vessel that was seen around the anchorage of the Lome waters that same month.

The ministers have therefore directed that the tentative schedule completion date of end of March 2013 proposed by WAPCo should be shortened to the end of February, 2013.