WAPCO Completes 678km Gas Pipeline Project

The Managing Director, West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCO), Mr Charles Adeniji says the company has completed its 678-kilometre pipeline link project from Escravos, near Warri in Delta State, Nigeria to Ghana.

Adeniji told energy correspondents in Lagos recently that the company had earlier completed the regulating and metering facilities at the export terminal in Itoki, Nigeria, Cotonou, Benin Republic, Lome in Togo, and Tema and Takoradi in Ghana.

The WAPCO managing director said the $1billion project, which is the first of its kind in the sub-region, had some challenges, which resulted to the delay in meeting the initial completion  target.

He said the company has commenced operations, and was  already transporting compressed gas to some of its customers, adding that its success story would be complete when it is able to run the pipeline at nameplate capacity.

His words: “We believe that with the spirit of West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) treaty that created the pipelines, all stakeholders can come together again to determine the gaps and forge a plan that will enable us run the pipelines at its full capacity within the next five years.”

Adeniji noted that the WAGP system had capacity to transport 474 million standard cubic feet (scf) per day, and was scheduled under the initial agreement to transport 134million scf per day.

WAPCO is a limited liability company, owned and operated by WAGP with headquarters in Accra, Ghana, and an office in Badagry, Lagos in Nigeria. It also has field logistics offices in Cotonou, Lome, Tema and Takoradi.

The company is a joint venture between public and private sector investors from Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana, with a mandate to transport natural gas from Nigeria to customers in Benin, Togo and Ghana in a safe, responsible and reliable fashion, at competitive prices with other fuel alternatives.

A statement made available to The Tide indicates that Chevron West African Gas Pipeline Limited has 36.7 per cent stake in WAPCO, with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) maintaining 25 per cent stake, and Shell Overseas Holdings Limited taking 18 per cent and Takoradi Power Holding Company Limited having 16.3 per cent. The others are, Societe Togolaise de Gaz and Societe BenGaz S.A. with 2 per cent apiece.

The Tide recalls that WAGP transports purified natural gas free of heavy hydrocarbons, liquids and water suitable as fuel for power plants and industrial applications, with 85 per cent of the gas feedstock utilised for power generation while the remaining 15 per cent is pumped to industrial comsumers for production activities.

Vivian-Peace Nwinaene