Nigeria has enough gas for subregion, expert says

Gas flared in Nigeria could provide energy for the whole of West Africa, PANA quoted a regional expert as telling a meeting this week in Dakar of representatives of The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal and oil-marketing countries. "Natural gas estimated at between 3 to 4 billion cubic feet a day is being flared in the oil fields of Nigeria, contributing to the instability of rainfall pattern in the sub-region due to pollution," Tsatsu Tsikata of Ghana said. "About 20,000 megawatts of power - more than the existing installed capacity in West Africa - can be generated from Nigeria's flared gas," he added in a presentation titled 'Regional co-operation for regional energy security in West Africa'. "This is enough to light up every village in West Africa," said Tsikata, who used to head the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation.