Member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) signed an intergovernmental agreement on Sunday in Freetown, expressing support for the Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic gas pipeline, according to a joint Moroccan and Nigerian statement.
This pipeline is intended to transport up to 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas annually from Nigeria and West Africa, traversing 13 West African nations en route to Morocco. This information comes from a joint statement issued by Morocco’s hydrocarbons and mining agency ONHYM and Nigeria’s state oil firm NNPC.
From this total capacity, 15 bcm per year will be supplied to Moroccan and European marketsent further noted
Conceived a decade ago through an agreement between the Moroccan King and the Nigerian president, the pipeline is projected to span 6,900 km along a hybrid offshore-onshore path, with an estimated cost of $25 billion.
The project has successfully completed its feasibility study and front-end engineering design (FEED) stages.
In April, ONHYM indicated that the pipeline aims to foster economic integration throughout West Africa by boosting electricity generation and supporting industrial and mining development. Concurrently, it seeks to help Morocco establish itself as an energy conduit between Africa and Europe.
The subsequent phase involves the signing of an agreement between Morocco and gas-rich Mauritania, scheduled for a later date and to be witnessed by Nigeria’s president, the statement concluded.
