THE Nigerian and Moroccan governments have teamed up with five West African countries to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Plan project (NMGP).
The ceremony held on Monday December 5, 2022 in Rabat, the capital of Morocco.
Nigeria’s National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCLtd), Morocco’s National Office for Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM), and the commercial entities of Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bisau and Sierra Leone executed the MoU.
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The NNPCLtd said in a statement today that the MoU was a significant step in fulfilling the Federal government’s drive towards harnessing Nigeria’s abundant gas resources.
The Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCLtd, Mele Kyari, said at the event, “Africa stands to benefit immensely from the execution of the project, which extends beyond supply of gas and energising countries across the route.
“Other benefits include the creation of wealth and improvement in the standards of living of our citizenry and increased cooperation between our countries, while mitigating against desertification and other benefits to be derived from reduction in carbon emission.”
Kyari, describing natural gas as a critical fuel in the transition towards net-zero, added, “NNPCLtd is positioned to progress the Nigerian-Morocco Gas Plan Project by leveraging its experience and technical capabilities, ranging from gas production, processing, transmission and marketing, as well as on its vast experience in executing major gas infrastructure projects in Nigeria.
“NNPCLtd will facilitate the continuous supply of gas and provide other enablers for the first compressor station to be deployed in Nigeria, which is among the 13 stations earmarked along the pipeline route.”
The statement noted that the representatives of the West African countries, in their respective speeches, reiterated the commitment of their countries towards making the NMGP a reality.
The Director-General of Morocco’s ONHYM, Amina Bankhadra, lauded the representatives of the countries that signed the MoU.
The NMGP is a 5,600-kilometre gas pipeline project, transversing 13 African countries of Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Coted’ivore, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco.
Upon completion, the project is expected to supply about three billion standard cubic feet of gas per day (3bscf/d) along the West African coast, from Nigeria to the West African countries through to the Kingdom of Morocco, and subsequently to Europe.
The NNPCLtd and ONHYM had signed an MoU in September 2022 with the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS), while it also executed MoUs with Petrosen of Senegal and the Mauritania Company of Hulydrocarbon in October 2022, all on the NMGP project.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.