Oando Plc, Nigeria’s biggest independent energy company, Saipem SpA and Modec-Itochu of Japan will develop gas facilities in Ghana in a project estimated at $1 billion.

Oando is the lead developer in the group of companies, which are in a joint venture with Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), the state-owned oil company.

“The scope of the project includes the development of offshore and onshore high-pressure gas transmission pipelines, a processing facility, liquefied petroleum gas, and condensate storage tanks,” Oando said.

Ghana is set to become one of Africa’s newest oil exporters in late 2010 when production begins at the offshore Jubilee field, which was discovered in June 2007 and has potential resources of as much as 1.8 billion barrels, according to Tullow Oil Plc, the biggest investor in the venture.

Ghana plans to use part of the gas to fuel two power plants in the western part of the country and sell the rest to domestic and foreign customers, Oando said.

Oando, which sells shares on the Lagos-based Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and on South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), operates fuel retail outlets in Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Togo and Liberia. Through its Gaslink subsidiary, the company is developing a natural-gas pipeline network to improve usage of the fuel in Nigeria, which vies with Angola to be Africa’s top oil producer.

Read more on Oil and Gas in Ghana

Oando | Saipem | Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) | Tullow Oil | Gaslink

Source(s): Bloomberg News