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Natural Gas Exports Are a ‘Bonus Prize’ for Africa
Africa - Vassanji, according to ChevronTexaco President George L. Kirkland, made that statement when he recently won Canada's Giller Literary Prize for the second time. Kirkland likened Africa's move into the natural gas market to a second prize on top of its first prize: oil.
"Today I would like to suggest that Africa is on the verge of winning a second prize in the form of a new and rapidly growing natural gas business. It, too, is a bonus," Kirkland told his audience on the second day of the three-day conference. "The growing world demand for natural gas has enormous potential to bring added benefits to Africa's economy and its people."
For years, Kirkland said, natural gas was a resource looking for a market -- but today, it has become a "bonus" for Africa, in addition to the continent's large oil reserves. Natural gas, he said, now flows directly from Africa's energy development -- an area in which ChevronTexaco is committed to spending more than $20 billion over the next five years.
"The benefits of natural gas go beyond new jobs and capital," Kirkland said. "Natural gas offers Africa environmental gains, greater industrial diversity, more prospects for regional cooperation, and new trading opportunities and relationships with the rest of the world."