The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), has promised to make Final Investment Decision (FID) on the $25 billion Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project in 2023.
In an interview with Bloomberg, where this promise was made, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari assured that the project is on course and remains one of the most critical for the company.
“We will take a final investment decision next year,” Kyari was quoted as saying.
What you should know about the NNPC gas project
Having signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the project last month, NNPC and the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines of Morocco expected the 5,600-kilometer (3,840-mile) pipeline to supply fuel to Europe upon its completion.
It traverses 13 African countries and is aimed at monetising Nigeria’s abundant natural gas resources, diversifying the country’s gas export routes, and eliminating gas flaring across Nigeria.
More so, the pipeline will originate from Brass Island (Nigeria) and terminate in the North of Morocco, where it will be connected to the existing Maghreb European Pipeline that originates from Algeria (via Morocco), all the way to Spain.
The project, according to Kyari, will cost between $20 billion to $25 billion and will be constructed in phases. He anticipates the first segment would take three years to finish and the others five years.
Meanwhile, BizWatch Nigeria understands that Nigeria’s gas exports are currently limited to shipments from NLNG Limited, which is a joint venture between the state-owned corporation, and international energy companies, including Shell Plc and Eni SpA.
Nigeria possesses Africa’s largest proven gas reserves at over 200 trillion cubic feet, most of which is untapped, flared, or re-injected into oil wells.
While the government says it wants to monetise much more of the resource, for domestic use and export, to replace crude as the country’s key commodity, Kyari stated that quadrupling gas production in the next four years was “very realisable.”
