Abuja rallies support from Nigerien and Algerian partners
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Natural gas pumped through the $13 billion Trans Sahara Gas Pipeline (TSGP) stretching from Nigeria across Niger to Algeria and anchoring in Spain will make Nigerian gas competitive in Europe.
And it will be an alternative natural gas source for Europe as it seeks to break its reliance on Russian gas, enthuses Petroleum Minister of State Timipré Sylva.
He disclosed at a meeting of the partners in Abuja that Nigeria alongside Niger and Algeria are committed to the project which will bring Nigerian gas closer to the European market facing high energy prices stoked by the Russian war in Ukraine.
“The project takes our gas to the European market directly. Today a lot of gas in Nigeria is stranded or re-injected because there are no infrastructure to take the gas to the market.
“This project is going to take the gas all the way from where it is produced to the European market, and it cannot be a better time, because gas prices are quite firm at this point,” Sylva said.
“I believe that it is a very good time for us to take advantage of very high gas prices globally.”
It will also enable other countries to benefit, including Chad which is also not far from the corridor of the project, he added.
“So this project has a lot of potential for growing the economies of African countries, West African countries and North Africa.”
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Economic development catalyst
Niger Republic Petroleum Minister Mahamadou Mahamane disclosed that the countries are ready to pool resources to actualise the project.
Algerian Energy and Mines Minister Mohamed Arkab added that TSGP would boost economic development of the partner countries and help achieve carbon neutrality in line with global energy transition, per Nairametrics reporting.
Said he: “While being fully part of the project aimed at decarbonising the oil and gas industry in short term, and at achieving carbon neutrality in the longer term, we remain convinced that a global and efficient energy transition cannot take place without the contribution of hydrocarbons.
“As such, natural gas presents itself as an energy of excellence to ensure this energy transition, while ensuring the security of the supply of markets, whose demand is only increasing.
“I invite all the parties and teams to participate actively in the realisation of this important project, within the required deadlines.”
Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) received Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval earlier this month to execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ECOWAS for the construction of the Nigeria-Morocco pipeline to take gas from West Africa through Morocco to Spain and Europe.
The Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) was proposed in a December 2016 agreement between the NNPC and the Moroccan Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (National Board of Hydrocarbons and Mines) (ONHYM).
The pipeline will connect Nigerian gas to all coastal West African countries – Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, and Mauritania – and up to Tangiers, Morocco, and Cádiz, Spain.