The FG orders NNPC to build the ECOWAS-Morocco-Europe Gas Pipeline
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been authorized by the Federal Government to carry out an agreement to build a gas pipeline from Nigeria to Europe via Morocco.
The European Union is looking to wean itself off Russian supplies following the invasion of Ukraine in February, and Africa’s gas resources are becoming more prominent.
The Federal Executive Council approved a memorandum of understanding on the gas project with the West African regional grouping ECOWAS, Petroleum Minister Timipre Sylva told reporters late Wednesday in Abuja.
Nigeria is Africa’s leading oil producer and a major gas and liquefied natural gas supplier.
“This gas line will take gas to 15 West African countries and to Morocco and through Morocco, to Spain and to Europe,” Sylva said.
He went on to say that the project was still in the design phase, and that issues such as cost and funding were still being worked out.
“It is only after the engineering design of the pipeline that we will know exactly (what) the cost of the pipeline will be. When that time comes, we will be talking about funding,” he said.
After an initial agreement was made in 2016, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI and Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari decided to press on with the mega-project to transport gas along the Atlantic Coast.
Both countries intend to extend the pipeline that has been transporting gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo, and Ghana since 2010.
Plans for a pipeline to transport Nigeria’s gas resources to North Africa have long been considered, and Algeria and Nigeria are also discussing a similar project that would cross the Sahel region.
Nigeria is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and possesses vast gas reserves, with the highest proven reserves in Africa and the seventh largest in the world.
