Maureen Lorenzetti
Washington Editor

The international gas business today looks like the oil business did 50 years ago. And this is especially true in Africa, where multinational companies are still in the early stages of building the links between gas reserves and customers, according to George Kirkland, president of ChevronTexaco Overseas Petroleum (CTOP), the arm of ChevronTexaco Corp. that handles upstream operations outside North America.
"For years, Africa's natural gas has been a resource looking for a market. Now this gas is becoming a bonus."

Kirkland told a Corporate Council on Africa Houston investment conference in November that ChevronTexaco and its partners will invest more than $20 billion over the next 5 years in the region.
"The benefits of natural gas go beyond new jobs and capital. 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," he said.
Developing the gas will take time, and "there will be growing pains along the way," he said. "But the potential economic, environmental, and social gains will make the struggle worth it."