The Federal Government has stated that it is in talks with Morocco on how to partner and fast-track the process of achieving the $30 billion gas pipeline project, News About Nigeria reports.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday.
The NNPCL noted that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, and the Moroccan Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Ms. Leila Benali, both had discussions on how the deal would proceed.
According to the statement, Nigeria and Morocco signed four new MoUs, and the tripartite agreements were signed between the NNPCL and the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines of Morocco, the Société Nationale des Opérations Pétrolières of Cote d’Ivoire, the National Oil Company of Liberia, the Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures of Benin, and the Société Nationale des Pétroles of the Republic of Guinea.
The statement noted that the signed MOUs were a reaffirmation that the parties are all committed to the success of the project.
Earlier on, the NNPCL stated that discussions on the final investment decision for the project continued, adding that the talks were centred on how to accelerate the partnership between Nigeria and Morocco to achieve a speedy completion of the project.
The pipeline will, however, route through 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.
The meeting was anchored by NNPCL’s Executive Vice President of Gas, Power, and New Energy, Olalekan Ogunleye, and the Director-General of Morocco National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines, Amina Benkhadra.
