Nigeria-Morocco pipeline to distribute gas to 15 W/African countries, Spain, Europe — FG
…As FEC gives NNPC nod to enter agreement with ECOWAS for construction
By Uthman Salami
The Federal Government has said that the proposed Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project will distribute gas to 15 West African countries, Spain as well as Europe once the project nears its completion.
This was revealed after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) gave approval for the NNPC to enter into an agreement with ECOWAS for the construction of the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline.
The pipeline would traverse 15 West African countries to Morocco and Spain.
“The Ministry of Petroleum Resources presented three memos to Council.
“The first memo, the Council approved for NNPC Ltd to execute an MoU with ECOWAS for the construction of the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline.
“This gas pipeline is to take gas to 15 West African countries and to Morocco and through Morocco to Spain and Europe,’’ he said.
In June 14, 2021, recall that, Nigerian NewsDirect exclusively reported that Nigeria was set to construct a gas pipeline from Nigeria to Morocco.
During an exclusive interview with Nigerian NewsDirect, the Chief Operating Officer of the Gas and Power of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engineer Yusuf Usman said that theFederal Government had concluded plans to construct a gas pipeline from Nigeria to Morocco.
According to him, the initiative to construct a gas pipeline linking Nigeria to Morocco was born out of the “Presidential Fertilisers Initiative” where the presidents of Nigeria and Morocco had signed a collaborative memorandum of understanding (MoU).
…FEC okays NNPC, ECOWAS deal
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, while briefing the State House correspondents after the FEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said that the project was still at the point of the front end engineering design after which the cost would be determined.
The Minister said that the council also approved the construction of a switchgear room and installation of power distribution cables and equipment for the Nigeria oil and gas park in Ogbia, Bayelsa, in the sum of N3.8billion.
He said that the park was to support local manufacturing of components for the oil and gas industry.
Moreover, Sylva said that FEC approved various contracts for the construction of an access road with bridges to the Brass Petroleum Product Depot in Inibomoyekiri in Brass Local Government in the sum of N11 Billion plus 7.5 per cent VAT.
The Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline was proposed in a December 2016 agreement between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Moroccan Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (National Board of Hydrocarbons and Mines) (ONHYM).
The pipeline would connect Nigerian gas to every coastal country in West Africa (Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania), ending at Tangiers, Morocco, and Cádiz, Spain.
When completed, this gas project will become the world’s longest offshore pipeline and second-longest pipeline in the world to carry gas from Nigeria to Morocco, running across 15 West African countries.
Early last month, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund also announced that it would contribute $14.3 million to Phase II of the feasibility study for the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline estimated at $25 billion.
Through its Fund for International Development (IFID), the intervention, OPEC said, would support the Moroccan government’s national development strategy aimed at transitioning to a low-carbon energy system.
According to OPEC, it will further diversify the country’s energy mix and help it in achieving its renewable energy commitments.
The study will carry out detailed evaluations of the implementation and design process for the eventual construction of the gas pipeline, thus facilitating the Final Investment Decision (FID).
