Victoria Oil & Gas pleased investors with the news it has successfully laid 678 metres of gas pipe under the Wouri River to the northern Bonaberi shore in Douala, Cameroon's major industrial city.

The emerging Cameroon utility company said the pipe-laying means the network, which now totals 860 metres of pipeline, will shortly be connected to the main pipeline, commissioned and ready to supply gas to new customers, following safety checks and flow testing.

Kevin Foo said: "This crossing under the Wouri River is truly an outstanding achievement by our contractor Britanica and our GDC engineering team. We overcame many challenges and pulling almost 700 metres of heavy gauge pipe under a major tidal shipping channel is another first in Cameroon for GDC. The pipe will be pressure tested over the next 10 days and once approved will be connected to the first customers in Bonaberi."

The laying of the 400mm pipe under the Wouri River extends the reach of the Gaz du Cameroun (GDC) gas supply network to a new industrial customer hub within Douala. To date, GDC has laid 860 metres of 400mm pipeline and 1,129 metres of branch spurs in the Bonaberi-Magzi Estate area.

Following the network extension, there are now three customers with signed gas supply agreements in place. GDC, working ahead of the pipe-laying under the river, has already converted burners and completed downstream engineering work to these thermal customers so that they are now ready to be supplied with gas, increasing daily gas consumption levels and GDC's revenues.

Shares in Victoria Oil & Gas had climbed 12.06% to 1.51p by 11:02.