Energy Security of West Africa : The Case of Natural Gas

The Gas Supply Security Index (GSSI) is used to assess the security of natural gas supply of four gas producing countries in West Africa using five indicators: Gas Intensity, Net Gas Import Dependency, Ratio of Domestic Gas Production to Imports, Gross Inland Consumption and Geopolitical Risk. This study identified that security of natural gas supply in West Africa is a major challenge as some of the major natural gas producers within the region are highly vulnerable to supply disruptions. Most of the countries studied rely solely on domestic production for supply security. Lack of diversification of supply source and the absence of natural gas storage facilities to safeguard the security of supply were identified as the major factors accounting for the high vulnerability among the natural gas producers within the region