The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved for Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC Limited) to execute an MoU with the Economic Committee of West African States, ECOWAS, for the construction of the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline to take gas from West African countries through Morocco to Spain and Europe.
This was disclosed by Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, after the FEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Minister stated that the project was still at the point of the front-end engineering design, after which the cost would be determined, as the pipeline would pass through 15 West African countries to Morocco and Spain.
He also added that the FEC approved the construction of a switchgear room and installation of power distribution cables and equipment for the Nigeria oil and gas park in Ogbia, Bayelsa, in the sum of N3.8billion, citing that the park will boost local manufacturing of components for the oil and gas industry.
Also approved was the construction of an access road with bridges to the Brass Petroleum Product Deport in Inibomoyekiri in Brass Local Government in the sum of N11billion plus 7.5% VAT.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline was proposed in a December 2016 agreement between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Moroccan Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (National Board of Hydrocarbons and Mines) (ONHYM).
The pipeline would connect Nigerian gas to every coastal country in West Africa (Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, and Mauritania), ending at Tangiers, Morocco, and Cádiz, Spain.
What you should know
Last month that the Federal Government revealed the West African Gas Pipeline Expansion Project is working closely with the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) Project for possible synergy between the two projects to boost natural gas delivery in West Africa and Europe.
The Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB) has also committed some financing to the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) Study for the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) project:
The Nigeria Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) project is sponsored by His Majesty King Mohammed VI and His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Project aims to prepare the required studies for the gas pipeline and help take the Final Investment Decision (FID) by 2023 for the infrastructure project. As per the agreement between Morocco and Nigeria Governments @NigeriaGov, both countries will share equally the (FEED) Project cost, which is estimated at USD 90.1 million.
IsDB will support the Moroccan contribution and participate in the financing of the project up to an amount of $15.45m. For the Nigerian Contribution, IsDB has approved financing of $29.75m, which will bring the contribution of the Bank to 50% of the total cost of FEED study”.