The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines of Morocco, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the commencement of construction of the 5,600km Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline.
The NMGP is a 5,600km gas pipeline project, traversing 13 African countries, which, when completed will provide gas from Nigeria to the West African countries up to the Kingdom of Morocco and subsequently to Europe.
The project, upon completion, will supply about three billion standard cubic feet of gas per day along the West African coast from Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, and Mauritania to Morocco.
NNPC Limited said the signing of the MoU between the two countries and the Economic Community of West African States in Rabat, Morocco, marked the official commencement of the project.
It said the two countries and ECOWAS executed the MoU agreement on the project, which was a significant step in fulfilling the federal government’s drive towards harnessing Nigeria’s abundant gas resources.
Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari, signed the agreement on behalf of Nigeria and the Director-general of Morocco’s National Office for Hydrocarbons and Mines, Dr. Amina Benkhadra, signed on behalf of her country, while the ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation, Mr. Sediko Douka, signed on behalf of the sub-regional organisation.
Kyari described the development as a very important milestone in the NMGP project in which all the key stakeholders in the project had come together to reaffirm their commitments to deliver on the project.
He said the Federal Government and the Kingdom of Morocco would benefit immeasurably from the execution of the project, as this would extend beyond the supply of gas to energise the countries along the route.
The NMGP project, an initiative of both countries, was conceived during the visit of King Mohammed VI of Morocco to Nigeria in December 2016.
