A memorandum of understanding was signed on Thursday in Rabat regarding a gas pipeline project that will connect Nigeria and Morocco and supply West Africa and Europe as well.
The National Nigerian Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the Moroccan Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM), and a senior official of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in charge of energy all signed the memorandum on the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project (NMGP), according to a joint statement.
The text signed “confirms the commitment of ECOWAS and all the countries involved to contribute to the feasibility of this important project”, the statement said.
The project, for which no completion date has been established, is being carried out in a geopolitical environment that is characterized by a high demand for gas and oil on a global scale as well as a rise in prices as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Many nations, especially those in Europe, are working to lessen their reliance on Russian supply.
According to the announcement, the 6,000 kilometer Nigeria-Morocco project will supply the landlocked nations of Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali by passing through 13 African nations along the Atlantic coast.
More than 5,000 billion cubic meters of natural gas are anticipated to be delivered to Morocco.
From there, it will be directly connected to the European gas network via the Maghreb Europe Gas Pipeline (GME).
The signing of the NMGP agreement, which was announced at the end of 2016, takes place against the backdrop of heightened regional rivalry between Morocco and Algeria, the continent’s and the world’s seventh-largest natural gas exporter, respectively.
On Algiers’ suggestion, the two Maghreb superpowers severed diplomatic ties in August 2021, putting an end to the dispute between them.
After this rupture, Algeria cut off Rabat’s access to gas by cutting the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline (GME), which transports Algerian gas to Spain while passing through Morocco, in October.
Rabat has since worked to diversify its gas supply.
The energy ministers of Algeria, Nigeria, and Nigeria signed a memorandum of understanding at the end of July to advance a rival mega-project for a trans-Saharan gas pipeline (TSGP), which would carry Nigerian gas to Europe via Niger and Algeria.
The Trans-completion Saharan’s has not been set a deadline.
