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ONHYM, NNPC sign MoUs with African states for Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline

Morocco’s National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM) and Nigeria’s National Petroleum Company (NNPC) have signed five memoranda of understanding (MoU) with several African countries including Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Ghana, for the implementation of the 3 bcf/d (31 bcm/year) Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline (NMGP). These engagements follow a previous MoU signed between ONHYM and NNPC in September 2022 for the pipeline.

The NMGP is a 5,600 km gas pipeline project (including 1,672 km in Morocco) which will cross 13 countries, namely Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania and finally Morocco. The US$25bn project, when completed, will provide gas from Nigeria to the West African countries up to Morocco and subsequently to Europe. Commissioning is expected to take place in the 2040s.

Nigeria is also part of a competing project, promoted by Algeria. In August 2022, Algeria, Niger and Nigeria signed on an MoU for the construction of the 30 bcm/year Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP) between Warri in Nigeria to Hassi R’Mel in Algeria, passing through Niger. The US$13bn gas pipeline, which aims to link Europe to the three countries' natural gas reserves, would be 4,128 km long, including 1,037 km in Nigeria, 841 km in Niger and 2,310 km in Algeria.