Rabat – Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) entry into an agreement with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for the construction of the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Marlin Sylva revealed the agreement’s approval in a press statement. The announcement came following a Nigerian Federal Executive Council meeting led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday at the Presidential Palace in Abuja.
“Today, the Ministry of petroleum resources presented three memos to Council. The first memo, the Council approved for the NNPC Limited to execute a memorandum of understanding with ECOWAS for the construction of the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline,” Sylva said.
This gas pipeline, he explained, will “take gas to 15 West African countries and to Morocco and through Morocco to Spain and Europe.”
Sylva highlighted that the ECOWAS-coordinated project was still in the planning and engineering design stages and that the cost would be decided after the design phase is completed.
The Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline is a new regional onshore and offshore gas pipeline designed to transport Nigeria’s natural gas resources to 13 nations in West and North Africa. It is an extension of the existing West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP) connecting Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Ghana.
This envisioned mega-project is planned to be one of the world’s longest offshore pipelines, stretching for around 7,000 km.
The enormous gas pipeline project between Nigeria and Morocco, whose feasibility study began in May 2017 at a cost of several billion dollars, was inaugurated in December 2016 during King Mohammed VI’s official visit to Abuja.
The deal was inked on June 10, 2018, during Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Rabat.
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