Abuja, Jan. 25, 2024: Nigeria has intensified discussions with the Kingdom of Morocco to fast-track the process of achieving the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline project.
The discussion held on the sidelines of a meeting between the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekperikpe Ekpo, and Moroccan Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Ms. Leila Benali.
It was anchored by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPC Ltd), Executive Vice President, Gas, Power and New Energy, Mr Olalekan Ogunleye and the Director-General, Morocco National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM), Mme Benkhadra.
This is contained in a statement by the NNPC Ltd Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, on Thursday in Abuja.
Soneye said the talks focused on how to drive the partnership between the two countries to accelerate the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project.
This, he said was in line with the series of Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) signed between the two countries in Abuja in 2022.
He said both parties emphasised its strategic importance to the two countries and the entire African continent, and the need to drive toward its completion expeditiously in line with the objective of stemming energy poverty on the continent.
Recall that the Cooperation Agreement for the 48″ x 5,300km pipeline from Nigeria to Dhakia (Morocco) and 1,700km from Dhakia to Northern Morocco was signed in 2017.
It has a capacity of 30 billion cubic meter (bcm) per year (equivalent of 3.0 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day).
The pipeline would traverse Republic of Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, and terminate in Morocco with a spur to Spain.
Due to the international nature of the project, the ECOWAS Commission is saddled with the responsibility to facilitate inter-governmental treaty and host government agreements, establishment of Pipeline Higher Authority and alignment with AU, UN and other international bodies.
The project, among other things, will help drive the monetisation of Nigeria’s gas resources, maintain NNPC Ltd.’s energy leadership in Africa, and promote economic and regional cooperation among African Countries.
The minister had in Nov. 2023 received envoys from Morocco, led by its Ambassador to Nigeria, Moha Ou Ali Tagma for a bilateral discussion on cooperation and commitment towards finalising the project.
