London (Platts)--20Dec2012/714 am EST/1214 GMT

London-listed Gasol said Thursday it has signed a strategic alliance with Socar Trading in relation to its proposed LNG import project in Benin, West Africa.

Under the terms of the alliance, Socar Trading -- the marketing and development arm of Socar, the state oil company of Azerbaijan -- will supply all LNG required for the project and assist Gasol with the provision of a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in the port of Cotonou, Benin.

The alliance will ensure the supply of LNG and the FSRU on competitive terms, and will allow Socar Trading to build its presence in West Africa, Gasol said.

"Our alliance with Socar Trading represents a major step towards our goal of bringing gas to Benin, Togo and Ghana, which remain significantly gas constrained in their power plants and industries," Alan Buxton, Gasol chief operating officer, said in a statement.

According to Gasol, power stations in West Africa currently operate predominantly on diesel, light crude and jet fuel, but many of the plants are capable of using gas.

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Gasol plans to supply these customers with gas from the FSRU that will regasify LNG that will be subsequently sent into the West African Gas Pipeline.

The West African Gas Pipeline, operated by Chevron, transports 474,000 Mcf/day of natural gas to Benin, Togo and Ghana.

The $1 billion West African Gas Pipeline starts at the Itoki terminal in southeastern Nigeria and heads eastward across Benin and Togo to Takoradi in western Ghana.

However, the pipeline was shut down in August after experiencing a loss of pressure around the Lome, Togo, segment, disrupting gas supplies to power plants in Nigeria's neighboring states.

The West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCO) said in October that it hoped to resume deliveries of gas through the pipeline by the end of the year.

Chevron owns a 36.7% stake in WAPCO. Other shareholders are Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (25%), Shell (18%), Takoradi Power Company Limited (16.3%), Societe Togolaise de Gaz (2%) and Societe BenGaz (2%).

--Geraldine Anderson, geraldine_anderson@platts.com
--Edited by Jonathan Fox, jonathan_fox@platts.com

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