The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with four national oil companies for the implementation of the Nigeria-Morocco Gas pipeline project.
This was revealed in a statement signed by Garba Deen Muhammad, NNPC spokesperson, made available to BusinessDay on Friday which stated that the agreement was signed at the ECOWAS Secretariat in Abuja at the sidelines of the First Steering Committee Meeting on the Trans-Atlantic Gas Pipeline Project.
The meeting was attended by representatives from ECOWAS and all the participating countries, including Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco.
These tripartite MOUs were respectively and successively signed between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM) of Morocco, the Société Nationale des Opérations Pétrolières of Cote d’Ivoire (PETROCI), the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), the Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures of Benin (SNH-Benin), and the Société Nationale des Pétroles of the Republic of Guinea (SONAP).
The NNPCL said that the MOUs signed were similar to those signed with ECOWAS on September 15, 2022, Mauritania and Senegal on October 15, 2022, and The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Ghana on December 5, 2022, to reaffirm the commitment of the Parties to this strategic project.
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“Once completed, the project will enhance the monetization of the natural gas resources of the affected African countries and also offer a new alternative export route to Europe; This significant infrastructure project will contribute to accelerating access to energy for all, improving the living conditions of the populations, integrating the economies of the sub-region, and mitigating desertification,” it stated.
In addition, it is expected to achieve these goals through the provision of a sustainable and reliable gas supply that aligns with the continent’s new environmental commitments, while providing Africa with a new economic, political, and strategic dimension.
“As a commercial enterprise, NNPC Ltd sees this project as an opportunity to monetize Nigeria’s abundant hydrocarbon resources, by expanding Access to energy to support economic growth, industrialization, and job creation across the African continent and beyond,” Mele Kyari, GCEO NNPCL said in his remarks.
In his remarks, Sédiko Douka, ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitization, said the gas pipeline project is significant as it will help strengthen the region’s electricity production/generation capacity, stimulate industrial and agricultural development, and contribute to the energy transition by using a source of energy that is cleaner than other fossil fuels.
