Buhari signs 5,600km gas pipeline agreement with Morocco

Nigeria has signed an agreement with Morocco for the construction of a 5,660km gas pipeline. The agreement was signed on Sunday by President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently on a working visit to the North African country, and Mohammed VI, king of Morocco.

Earlier in December 2016, both countries agreed on the pipeline and carried out feasibility studies.

“For economic, political, legal and security reasons, the choice was made on a combined onshore and offshore route,” Morocco’s national office of hydrocarbons and mines (ONHYM) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said in a joint declaration.

“The gas pipeline will be 5,660 kilometres (3,516.96 miles) long and its CAPEX has been defined,” the declaration said, adding that construction will last 25 years.

Both countries say they will launch a front-end engineering design (Feed) to involve countries that will be crossed by the pipeline and to determine the amount of gas available for export to Europe.

According to the declaration, funding for the project will come from development banks.

The project is expected to help West African countries meet their energy needs and boost Nigeria’s export potential to Europe.

At the same event, Uche Orji, managing director of Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Authority, and Mostafa Terrab, the CEO of the Management of Phosphate in Morocco, to build a plant for the production of ammonia and derivatives.

Credit: The Cable