The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), on Tuesday, December 6, signed a separate MoU with West African countries to further the planned Nigeria-Morocco. Nigeria’s NNPC signed separate MoUs to win national oil companies from Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Sierra Leone at a ceremony in Morocco attended by high-profile leaders from the countries involved in the project.
In attendance was the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC, Mele Kyari; the General Director of Morocco’s National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines, Dr. Amina Benkhadra and representatives of the other countries.
The latest event follows a similar one witnessed on September 15, 2022, when the Moroccan national oil company and Nigeria’s NNPC signed an MOU with the ECOWAS Commission. Earlier, the two giant state-owned oil companies had also signed an agreement with Petrosen of Senegal and SMH of Mauritania.
“From the inception of the project to this stage, concerted efforts have been made by the governments of Nigeria and the Kingdom of Morocco, which led to the very commendable achievements recorded thus far,” said Kyari.
According to Kyari, the African continent will immensely benefit from the execution of the massive project, which will go beyond supplying gas to boost the energy security of countries along the pipeline to exporting gas to Europe.
The NNPC CEO also noted that the project would result in the creation of wealth and improved standards of living for the citizens of the countries involved, increase cooperation among the participating countries while also mitigating desertification, and enjoy other benefits as a result of carbon emission reduction.
“Natural gas must play a crucial role, as a transition fuel, on our path to net zero. Gas will support the establishment of baseload energy capacity, stabilisation of the grid to allow for integration of renewables at scale, and addressing our clean cooking fuel deficit in the form of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG),” Kyari added.
The project features a 48-inch diameter offshore pipeline stretching for 5,300 Km from Brass Island-Nigeria to Dakhla-Morocco, and a 56-inch diameter onshore pipeline stretching for 1,700 Km from Dakhla-Morocco.
According to reports, the entire pipeline will cover over 7,000 Km, 13 compressor stations, and end in North Morocco, where it will connect to the existing Maghreb European Pipeline (MEP) that originates from Algeria and goes through Morocco to Spain. The massive pipeline project was to monetize Nigeria’s vast natural gas resources, generate extra revenue, diversify the country’s export routes, and eliminate gas flaring.
Source:
https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2022/12/06/nigeria-morocco-pipeline-nnpc-seals-deal-with-ghana-gambia-others/