FG Directs NNPC To Implement Morocco To Europe Gas Pipeline

The Federal Government has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to implement a deal on a gas pipeline to Europe through Morocco.

Africa’s gas resources are increasingly in the spotlight as the European Union looks to wean itself off Russian supplies following the invasion of Ukraine in February.

The Approval for a memorandum of understanding on the gas project with West African regional bloc ECOWAS was given after the Federal Executive Council meeting, Petroleum Minister Timipre Sylva told news reporters in Abuja late Wednesday.

Nigeria is Africa’s top oil producer member of the OPEC group of major oil producers and has huge gas resources — the largest proven reserves in Africa and the seventh largest globally and a major supplier of gas and liquefied natural gas.

Under the deal, both countries plan to extend the pipeline that has been pumping gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo and Ghana since 2010.

Plans for a pipeline to take Nigeria’s gas resources to North Africa have long been discussed, and Algeria has also held talks with Nigeria for a similar project crossing the Sahel region.