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Driven by a desire to clean up their air, attract new business and provide a better standard of living for their citizens, Asian and African leaders are focusing on natural gas with a wide range of plans that will change the way they live and work.
Among those paying close attention to developing regions stretching from West Africa to China and beyond is Rebecca A. McDonald, chief executive officer for Enron Asia Pacific, Africa, China. Recognized as one of the foremost experts in natural gas, McDonald went to work for Enron in February following a six-year stint with Amoco, where she served as chairman and CEO of Amoco's Energy Development Co. Previously, she was president of Tenneco Gas Marketing Co. and spent 10 years at Panhandle Eastern where she directed its gas marketing company.
West Africa
In her first in-depth interview since joining Enron, McDonald told P&GJ that the industry should look at the AfricaAsia sphere in a most positive light. Because natural gas works as an integrated regional business, West Africa is an inviting prospect, particularly Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), and now Nigeria, she said. For instance, Enron and a local partner are working with the government of Benin to develop, construct and operate a power plant that would include construction of a 20-mile pipeline to bring gas to the plant.
"The fundamentals in West Africa are encouraging because those countries have a relationship with one another that is strong and healthy. They also have economic agreement from a development standpoint; free movement of people; free movement of trade and a history of supplying one another with energy," she said. The countries are evaluating a study on the proposed West African Gas Pipeline. There is a pent-up demand for power (especially in Ghana). A significant number of different industries are lining up to move in-but lack gas or electricity. Benin and Cote D'Ivoire have offshore gas reserves waiting to be recovered.
"Those are all favorable conditions for near-term development," McDonald said. Nigeria's enormous gas reserves make it a serious player, especially since it will no longer be able to flare its gas after 2002, she said. "The markets are there for natural gas; it just requires someone to come in and...