The West Africa Pipeline Company Limited has said it is looking to capture new gas supply from Nigeria , with a focus on the Aje field offshore Lagos , as part of its key interventions to reposition the company for the dynamic market landscape .
WAPCo is the operator of the $ 1 bn West African Gas Pipeline , which was built to supply natural gas from Nigeria to customers in Benin, Togo and Ghana .
The Managing Director , WAPCo, Mr. Walter Perez, who spoke in Lagos at a business forum organised by the Nigerian Gas Association , said the company was also seeking increased supply from the Escravos – Lagos Pipeline System .
He disclosed that the transition to a bi – directional pipeline system from a uni-directional system was meant to increase capacity and accommodate new entry points amid significant unmet demand along the WAGP market .
He said the growing market in the sub – region had seen Ghana , Togo , and Benin compete with Nigeria domestic gas market for new Nigerian supply .
According to Perez , there is an increasing appetite for natural gas as a cleaner energy source but significant supply gap still exists , increasing attention towards Liquefied Natural Gas.
He said steps to reposition WAPCo for the dynamic market landscape included the facilitation of multiple shippers operating under the open – access regime; diversification and attraction of new robust supply ; adaption of the WAGP configuration to reflect changing supply and demand patterns , and transition from single postage stamp to a more robust and flexible tariff structure for the WAGP by January 1 , 2019 .
He said the company would attract substantial gas supply from western Ghana , as well as capture re – gasified LNG for transport through the WAGP .
“ WAPCo is adapting its business model to suit market dynamics ; transitioning to bi – directional , multi / entry exit system , and offering a competitive tariff to attract new gas volumes ,” Perez said .
Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company Limited , a wholly – owned indigenous firm, is the operator of OML 113 , where the Aje field is located .
Other partners are Panoro Energy , New Age Exploration Nigeria Limited , EER ( Colobus ) Nigeria Limited and PR Oil & Gas Nigeria Limited .
It was gathered in December that the partners had planned to embark on a work programme that would increase oil production and reserves from the field through drilling of new wells , and were working on an Aje gas field development plan for the phase 3 Turonian gas development with first gas production anticipated by the first half of 2018 .
One of the partners , Panoro , said then that a third Turonian gas condensate development phase was being conceptualised and would likely involve three or four wells producing over 500 billion cubic feet of gas , 22 million barrels of condensate and 40 million barrels of liquefied petroleum gas .
Aje is an offshore field located in OML 113 in the western part of Nigeria in the Dahomey Basin .
It contains hydrocarbon resources in sandstone reservoirs in three main levels – a Turonian gas condensate reservoir, a Cenomanian oil reservoir and an Albian gas condensate reservoir .
