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Rabat – Morocco and Nigeria have granted British engineering company Penspen the contract for the first phase of the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) of the proposed gas pipeline linking Morocco and Nigeria.
The Moroccan National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation granted the contract to Penspen, the company said in a statement January 7.
The decision follows a feasibility study that Penspen completed in July 2018.
The first phase of FEED, according to Pensen, “consists of a detailed review of the feasibility study results and in-depth evaluation of the gas demand and supply study.”
Penspen “will also support the client in marketing and promoting the pipeline project to potential stakeholders showcasing the wider benefits of its development.”
The 5,700-kilometer gas pipeline will serve 12 African countries for an estimated cost of $20 billion. The pipeline is also known as the Nigeria Morocco Gas Pipeline
Penspen CEO Peter O’Sullivan said, “Following Penspen’s successful execution of the feasibility study, we consider it a huge privilege to be selected by both clients for the next stage of the project definition.”
Read Also: Morocco, Nigeria Agree on Next Phase of Gas Pipeline Project
Penspen is executing the FEED study from the company’s Abu Dhabi office.
The company will also carry out some “special studies required for the FEED services, environmental impact assessment, Nigeria gas supply study and risk study respectively.”
Nigeria-Morocco pipeline project started in 2016
During the signing ceremony of the Nigeria-Morocco Pipeline Project agreement in May 2017, Moroccan foreign minister Nasser Bourita said that the Nigeria-Morocco pipeline will have a positive impact on over 300 million consumers.
The pipeline would speed up electrification projects in all of West Africa, serving as a basis for the creation of a competitive regional electricity market, Bourita added.
King Mohammed VI chaired the ceremony in the presence of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari at the Royal Palace of Rabat.
The project was first announced following a meeting between King Mohammed VI and Buhari at the UN Climate Summit COP22 in Marrakech in November 2016. The two heads of state further examined the project during the King’s visit to Abuja in December 2016.
