First reserves of Africa, Nigerian gas attracts the interest of Europeans in the midst of the Russian war against Ukraine.
Le Monde with AFP
Nigeria and Morocco are still looking for funds to finance a megaprojet of gas pipeline aimed at transporting Nigerian gas to North Africa and Europe, the Nigerian oil minister said on Monday May 2.
Since the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Africa’s gas reserves are increasingly attracting looks, the European Union (EU) in particular seeking alternatives to its gas supply by Russia.
Four years ago, the King of Morocco Mohammed VI and the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari agreed on a megaprojet of gas transport along the Atlantic coast, over 3,000 km. An agreement between the two countries was signed for the first time in 2016.
The Nigerian Minister of Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, said that pipeline would be an extension of a gas pipeline transporting the gas from southern Nigeria to Benin, Ghana and Togo since 2010. “We want to continue this same pipeline until ‘In Morocco along the coast. Today, the project is still under study, said Sylva on Monday. We are in securing funding and many people show their interest. “
Huge potential
“The Russians were in my office last week, they are very eager to invest in this project,” said the minister.
For the time being, Mr. Sylva said that no agreement on funding has been reached. “There is a lot of international interest but we have not yet identified the investors with whom we want to work.”
The routing of Nigerian gas to North Africa has long been feeding many interests, Algeria having notably conducted discussions in 2002 for a similar pipeline project crossing the Sahel region.
Nigeria, a member of OPEC, has huge gas reserves, the first in Africa and the sevenths worldwide.