Minister assures of regular gas supply to Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project

Mr. Ekperikpe Ekpo, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources(Gas) has assured of uninterrupted supply to the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project.

Ekpo stated this when he led a delegation from Nigeria to Rabat, Morocco to meet with that country’s Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Ms Leila Benali and other officials involved in the project.

The Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline was proposed in December 2016 in an agreement between the NNPCL and the Moroccan Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines.

The Federal Executive Council in June 2022 authorised the NNPCL to enter into an agreement with ECOWAS for the construction of the pipeline.

The minister said President Bola Tinubu is passionate about the initiative and will do everything possible to ensure that the country gets to the end of it.

“My assurance to you and the people of Morocco is that gas will not be a problem as far as Nigeria is concerned,” he said.

Ekpo added that Nigeria would play a pivotal role in the marketing of the product within the African Union and the European Union.

“We are fully on track; I will encourage the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco to continue pushing. The two companies that are representing Nigeria and Morocco will also have to work day in, day out to meet the target,” he stated.

On her part, the Moroccan Energy Minister said that the pipeline project would serve as a catalyst for regional and continental development.

Mediareports that the Federal Government has intensified discussions with Morocco in a bid to fast-track the process of achieving the final investment decision on the $30bn Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline.

The pipeline is expected to traverse the Republic of Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, and terminate in Morocco with a spur to Spain.