África occidental da el paso final en la inversión en el gasoducto Nigeria-Marruecos
The last two memorandums of understanding and cooperation between the different countries involved in the gas project were signed in the Mauritanian city of Nouakchott. On the one hand, the signing took place between Nigeria, Mauritania and Morocco, and on the other hand, between Nigeria, Senegal and Morocco. The pipeline will run along the West African coast, connecting Nigeria with the Maghreb region.
The first of the agreements was signed by the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM) represented by its director general, Amina Benkhadra, the National Nigerian Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) represented by its group managing director Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari and the Mauritanian Hydrocarbon Company (SMH) represented by its managing director, Tourad Abdel Baghi, as stated in the signatories' joint press release. The second memorandum was signed by ONHYM represented by Amina Benkhadra, the NNPC represented by Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari and the Holding Société des Pétroles du Sénégal (PETROSEN Holding) represented by its managing director Adama Djallo, as specified in the joint press release.
According to Kyari's statement, this project will not only serve for gas distribution, but will help West African economies prosper through the support of both the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project (NMGP) and NNPC as both companies seek to provide functional value to all transit nations. Also, Amina Benkhadra said her organisation was committed to the integration of West African economies through the project; adding that it will help reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and meet Europe's gas requirements.
For his part, the CEO of PETROSEN Holdings, Adama Djallo, thanked the Government of Mauritania for hosting the signing ceremony for the execution of the memoranda of understanding formed by the tripartite NNPC/ONHYM/PETROSEN, adding that the Senegalese NOC will work with all partners to make the cooperation successful.
Once completed, the NMGP Project will supply around 3 billion cubic metres of gas per day along the west coast of Africa from Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania to Morocco. Other benefits of the NMGP Project include improving people's standard of living, integrating economies within the sub-region and mitigating desertification through a sustainable and reliable gas supply. The project is aimed at harnessing natural gas from Nigeria. This, in turn, would generate more revenue for the collaborating parties and diversify the energy markets of both regions.
These countries, which will have their share of gas, will be able to make a change in their energy mix. In this way, energy will be paid for at a lower cost and some sectors, such as the electricity and industrial sectors, will be relieved of their high consumption payments. This, in turn, will allow markets to come together and mobilise financing for the development of the project. Other unnoticed benefits include job creation, more energy, diversification of gas export routes, elimination of gas flaring, higher living standards and more.
Experts believe that Western countries, including Spain, prefer the arrival of Nigerian gas through Moroccan territory so that the current problem between Algeria and Spain is not repeated. Moreover, the pipeline is one of two initiatives promoted by the Nigerian company in an attempt to capitalise on European demand for new sources of natural gas in the wake of the Russian operation in Ukraine.