Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project will create wealth —Kyari

Mele Kyari Mele Kyari, GCEO, NNPCL

Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) has officially kicked off the 5,600km gas pipeline project.

The project took off following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Rabat, Morocco, on Thursday.

Once completed, the project will supply about three billion standard cubic feet of gas per day (3bscfd) transversing 13 African countries.

These are; the West African Coast from Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania to Morocco.

When completed, it is expected to provide gas from Nigeria to the West African countries through to the Kingdom of Morocco and subsequently to Europe.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Mallam Mele Kyari signed the MoU on behalf of Nigeria, while Amina Benkhadra, Director General of Morocco’s National Office for Hydrocarbons & Mines (ONHYM) signed on behalf of her country.

Mr Sediko Douka, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalization signed on behalf of the sub-regional organisation.

In his remarks, Kyari described the development as a very important milestone in the NMGP project in which all key stakeholders in the project have come together to reaffirm their commitment to delivering on the project.

Kyari said from the inception of the project, concerted efforts have been made by governments of both countries, which led to the very commendable achievements so far recorded.

He said Nigeria and the Kingdom of Morocco stand to benefit immeasurably from the execution of the project which extends beyond the supply of gas to energize the countries along the route.

“Some of the benefits include the creation of wealth and improvement in the standard of living, integration of the economies within the region, mitigation against desertification and other benefits that will accrue as a result of a reduction in carbon emission,” Kyari added.

He added that the NNPC will facilitate the continuous supply of gas and provide other enablers such as the required land for the first compressor station for the pipeline to be deployed in Nigeria which is among the thirteen stations earmarked along the pipeline route.

Kyari said NNPC is well positioned to progress the project by leveraging its experience and technical capabilities ranging from gas production, processing, transmission and marketing as well as its vast experience in executing major gas infrastructure projects in Nigeria.

Conceived during the visit of King Mohammed VI of Morocco to Nigeria in December 2016, the NMGP Project is an initiative of the Nigerian Government and the Kingdom of Morocco.

It is aimed at monetizing Nigeria’s abundant natural gas resources, thereby generating additional revenue for the Country, diversifying Nigeria’s gas export routes and eliminating gas flaring in the country.

The pipeline will originate from Brass Island (Nigeria) and terminates in the North of Morocco, where it will be connected to the existing Maghreb Euro pean Pipeline (MEP) that originates from Algeria (via Morocco), all the way to Spain.

ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE