The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has disclosed plans to extend the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) from Ghana to Cote d’Ivoire.
The move, according to the corporation, is part of the Federal Government’s West Africa energy integration policy aimed at penetrating the region.
Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, stated this yesterday while receiving a delegation from Cote d’Ivoire at the NNPC Towers in Abuja.
Represented by the Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, Saidu Mohammed, the GMD stated that the extension of WAGP to Cote d’Ivoire would facilitate easy transmission of gas within the West African sub-region.
He noted that the visit would afford NNPC and Cote d’Ivoire the opportunity to open a new vista for further bilateral discussion, which would lead to the growth and development of the oil and gas sector.
The GMD said Nigeria and indeed NNPC, has been into the business of oil and gas exploration and production for over 50 years, stressing that the interface would enable NNPC to share its vast experiences in the sector with the delegation.
“Petroleum exploration and production dates back to over 50 years in Nigeria and a lot of experiences in technology and personnel management have been acquired. We are ready to share our experiences with you to help you avoid the mistakes we made in the past,” Baru said.
He expressed the readiness of NNPC to develop the capacity of the delegation, adding that the corporation was aware of the long history of refining in Cote d’Ivoire.
Earlier, leader of the Ivorian delegation and Deputy Director, Production, of Ministry of Petroleum, Cote d’Ivoire, Mr. Patrick Marshal, said the visit was to learn from Nigeria some of its best practices in personnel management, exploration and production in the oil and gas industry.