Keypoints:
- Ghana Gas targets early 2027 investment decision
- $500m pipeline would stretch 278 kilometres
- Gas demand could reach 715 mmscfd by 2030
GHANA Gas is moving towards a final investment decision on a $500m pipeline designed to carry domestically produced natural gas from the country’s western production hub towards Tema, strengthening industrial supply as Ghana prepares for sharply higher gas demand.
The proposed 278-kilometre West-East onshore pipeline could become a crucial link between expanding offshore production and Ghana’s largest industrial concentration in the southeast, while giving the country greater flexibility to supplement gas currently imported from Nigeria.
Pipeline decision moves closer
Ghana Gas Chief Executive Judith Adjobah Blay disclosed the timetable in an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the Gastech conference this week, saying the state-owned company hopes to move ahead with the project by the end of the first quarter of 2027.
Financing remains a key hurdle before construction can proceed.
The pipeline has been under discussion for nearly a decade as Ghana seeks to move more of its gas from western production fields towards power generators and industries around Tema.
The proposal is becoming more significant as Ghana expands domestic gas production and attempts to reduce the cost of electricity generation by limiting reliance on more expensive liquid fuels.
Tema drives rising gas demand
Ghana Gas expects national gas consumption to climb from about 502 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) in 2026 to 715 mmscfd by 2030.
That would represent an increase of about 42 percent in four years, placing greater pressure on Ghana’s processing and transmission infrastructure.
Tema sits at the centre of the country’s industrial economy, hosting manufacturers, thermal power facilities, energy companies and other large consumers.
Delivering more domestic gas directly to the enclave could therefore support both electricity generation and industrial growth.
The pipeline proposal also comes as Ghana pursues a wider strategy of strengthening domestic energy security. The government has separately outlined ambitions to increase the share of locally supplied petroleum products, putting greater emphasis on domestic processing and infrastructure.
Sankofa output set to rise
Additional gas from Ghana’s offshore fields could reinforce the case for expanding transmission capacity.
Ghana Gas expects production from the Eni-operated Sankofa development to increase from around 280 mmscfd currently to 350 mmscfd by 2028.
The increase forms part of Ghana’s broader effort to extract more value from its offshore gas resources. The country recently reached a new agreement aimed at expanding production from the Offshore Cape Three Points development, where Sankofa forms a key part of domestic supply.
Eni said in July 2025 that it and its OCTP partners, Vitol and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, had increased the project’s non-associated gas processing capacity from 246 mmscfd to 270 mmscfd.
That expansion underlines the growing importance of the western offshore basin to Ghana’s domestic energy system.
More gas from Jubilee and TEN
According to figures Blay gave Reuters, Ghana Gas currently processes about 130 mmscfd of associated gas from the Jubilee and Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme fields operated by Tullow.
The fields could provide an additional 50 mmscfd of gas.
Ghana Gas plans to process those additional volumes through another proposed processing facility, although further details depend on parliamentary approval.
The additional supply would add to a midstream sector that has already attracted substantial private capital. Previous investments, including a <a href=”https://africabriefing.com/425m-facility-to-fund-gas-midstream-projects-in-ghana/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer“>$425m financing package for Ghanaian gas infrastructure</a>, have highlighted investor interest in pipelines and processing facilities linking production areas with power and industrial consumers.
Reducing exposure to Nigerian gas
Ghana currently imports about 70 mmscfd of lean gas from Nigeria through the West African Gas Pipeline.
Those supplies remain important, particularly for power generation in eastern Ghana, and the proposed West-East pipeline would not eliminate the country’s need for regional gas trade.
Instead, additional domestic transmission capacity could allow Ghana to move a larger proportion of its own gas towards Tema while retaining Nigerian imports as part of a more diversified supply system.
Greater availability of domestic gas could also support efforts to bring down electricity costs. Ghana has been seeking to reduce power tariffs by increasing the use of cheaper domestic gas and improving efficiency across the electricity value chain.
Gas infrastructure takes centre stage
Natural gas remains central to Ghana’s power strategy because gas-fired generation can reduce the need for more expensive liquid fuels.
At the same time, future power projects are likely to increase demand further. Ghana’s plans to expand generation capacity, including proposals for a 1,200MW power project, reinforce the need for dependable fuel supplies and stronger transmission infrastructure.
The expansion is putting greater emphasis on whether Ghana has sufficient processing and pipeline capacity to move growing domestic gas volumes efficiently from western production areas to major demand centres.
A final investment decision on the $500m West-East pipeline in early 2027 would therefore represent more than progress on a project discussed for years.
It could mark an important step towards connecting Ghana’s expanding offshore gas resources more directly with its industrial heartland while giving the country greater control over a fuel that is increasingly central to its electricity and manufacturing ambitions.
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