The Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project has officially taken off following the signing of an MoU between ECOWAS and Morocco on Thursday.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on Thursday evening at Sofitel in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, between the 2 countries and ECOWAS. The pipeline would be a 5,600km project, passing through 13 African countries and will send gas to Europe through Morocco.
NNPC boss, Mele Kyari noted that the benefits include the creation of wealth and improvement in the standard of living, integration of the economies within the region, mitigation against desertification and other benefits that will accrue as a result of reduction of carbon emission.
What the NNPC is saying
The NNPC said that this was a significant step in fulfilling the FG’s drive toward harnessing Nigeria’s abundant gas resources.
“The NMGP is a 5,600 KM gas pipeline, traversing 13 African countries, which when completed will provide gas from Nigeria to the West African countries through the Kingdom of Morocco and subsequently to Europe,” it added.
NNPC also stated that once completed, it will supply 3 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day along West Africa’s coat from Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco.
- Mele Kyari, NNPC Ltd CEO, who signed on behalf of Nigeria, described the development as a very important milestone in the NMGP project in which all key stakeholders have come together to reaffirm their commitment to delivering the project.
- Kyari also added that both governments have made concerted efforts toward reaching the agreement.
- “Some of the benefits include creation of wealth and improvement in standard of living, integration of the economies within the region, mitigation against desertification and other benefits that will accrue as a result of reduction of carbon emission,” Kyari said.
- Kyari added that NNPC will facilitate a continuous supply of gas and provide other enablers such as required land for the first compressor station for the pipeline to be deployed in Nigeria.
NNPC says the pipeline will originate from Brass Island in Nigeria and Terminate at the North of Morocco, where it will be connected to the existing Maghreb European Pipeline that originates from Algeria to Spain.
What you should know
- Nairametrics reported in June that Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved for Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC Limited) to execute an MoU with the Economic Committee of West African States, ECOWAS, for the construction of the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline to take gas from West African countries through Morocco to Spain and Europe
- The Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB) has also committed some financing to the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) Study for the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) project:
- The Nigeria Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) project is sponsored by His Majesty King Mohammed VI and His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari.
- The Project aims to prepare the required studies for the gas pipeline and help take the Final Investment Decision (FID) by 2023 for the infrastructure project. As per the agreement between Morocco and Nigeria Governments @NigeriaGov, both countries will share equally the (FEED) Project cost, which is estimated at USD 90.1 million.