State-owned Ghana Gas plans to make a final investment decision by early next year on a long-discussed $500 million pipeline project that would transport gas from its processing plant in the western part of the country to industries in the southeast, CEO Judith Adjobah Blay said on Wednesday.

The proposed 278-kilometre (173-mile) West-East onshore pipeline will enable the company to meet ⁠growing industrial sector demand and reduce its reliance on the West African pipeline shared ​by neighbouring countries, Blay told Reuters on the sidelines of the Gastech conference.

"It's a project ​that we hope to really embark on by the end of the first quarter of 2027," she said, as the company is trying to line up financing.

The project has been under discussion for nearly a decade as Ghana seeks cheaper, more reliable gas supplies to power industries in the Tema industrial enclave.

Ghana Gas expects to receive more gas from the Eni-operated offshore Sankofa project when its ‌production increases ⁠to 350 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) in 2028, Blay said, up from 280 mmscfd currently.

The company processes about 130 mmscfd of associated gas from the Tullow-operated Jubilee and TEN oil fields, she said. The fields have an extra 50 mmscfd of gas available, which will be processed at a proposed gas processing plant that needs lawmaker approval before more details can be announced, Blay said.

The plan would be for the government to take a 30% stake in the proposed plant, with the remainder funded by private firms, she added.

Ghana's gas consumption is forecast to reach 715 mmscfd by 2030, up from 502 mmscfd this year, according to the company.

Ghana imports 70 mmscfd of lean gas from Nigeria, she said.

"The ⁠policy ​is to use gas primarily for power production," she ​said, as that would reduce the need to burn costlier fuels.