Gas transportation services from Nigeria to Republic of Benin, Togo and Ghana will be temporarily suspended to allow the west African Gas pipeline company Limited carry out maintenance and inspection of its offshore facilities, in line with regulatory mandate which requires it to do so every five years.
The exercise, which commenced on the 5th of February and will last till the 2nd of March, 2025, will also witness the reverse flow transportation of natural gas from Ghana Western Region to TEMA in the Eastern part of the country.
Briefing journalists in Lagos on the development, WAPCo’s General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Dr Isaac Adjei-Doku said the governments of the three countries involved have been duly notified ” we engaged the governments of Ghana Togo and Benin Republic to let them know way ahead of time that we are going to be doing the PIG. So the various coutries have made alternative arrangements to make sure that they have go the liquid fuels for power generation during the period,” he said.
Dr Adjei-Doku explained that an average of about 85000mmscf/d of gas was required to push the pipeline inspection gauge(PIG) from Nigeria to Takoradi through 569km stretch of pipelines.
On safety, the General Manager said ” The maintenance work will prioritize the safety of the workers and WAPCo has extensively engaged all relevant stakeholders to ensure a smooth and successful project. WAPCo engineers and safety team have worked to denvelop a comprehensive plan to ensure all activities are completed as safely as possible.
He listed activities to be undetaken during the exercise to include:
- Cleaning the pipelines to remove debris, dirt and liquids.
- Inspecting the internal walls of the pipeline
- Replacing subsea valves
- Conducting an ancillary works needed while gas transportation services are suspended, adding that most of the activities will take place offshore and at two WAPCO facilities namely: Lagos Beach Conpresssor Station located at badagry and Takoradi regulating and metering Station
Among other things, Dt Adjei-Doku said the cleaning and inspection activities will ensure safe and reliable operations , align with industry best practics and confirm the condition and integrity of the pipelines.
