The implementation of the Nigeria Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) is at the engineering design stage of the project, Mustapha Baitas, Minister Delegate to the Head of Government in charge of Relations with Parliament, and Government Spokesman, said in Rabat on Thursday.
"The Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project is on the right track. It is part of the strategic partnership between the two countries in line with the vision outlined by King Mohammed VI of Morocco and President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria," he stressed, speaking after the weekly government meeting.
"The studies that have been conducted or are still ongoing relate in particular to the engineering design of the project. New studies relate to environmental and social issues," Baitas noted.
As Maghreb Arabe Press news agency recalls, Moroccan authorities and the OPEC Fund for International Development signed a document last week regarding $14.3 million in funding for the second phase of studies for the preliminary Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project. The studies, which are also funded by the Islamic Development Bank, involve the preparation of documentation for the project and the completion of related technical, financial and legal analysis, the kingdom's Ministry of Economy, Finance and Administrative Reform said.
Longest underwater gas pipeline in the world
Earlier this week, Tolu Ogunlesi, media adviser to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, announced that Nigeria and Morocco were planning to build the world's longest underwater gas pipeline at 5,660 km.
On May 2, Nigeria's Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Silva, explained that the NMGP project would be an extension of the West African Gas Pipeline, which already carries gas from Nigeria to Ghana (across the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean). According to him, OPEC and Russia are among those willing to invest in the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project.
For the sake of competitiveness of the region
As Maghreb Arabe Press points out, the strategic gas pipeline project was initiated in 2016 by King Mohammed VI of Morocco and President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria. According to the parties, the project will "increase the competitiveness of the region, enhance its socio-economic development, in particular by accelerating the electrification and development of the region's energy independence, as well as improving the living conditions of the local population."
As expected, the gas pipeline main will be laid along the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean along the West African coast. The project could also be used in the future to ensure the export of blue fuel to the EU through the Moroccan territory.
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Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS