Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo
Mr. Ekperikpe Ekpo, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), has guaranteed a continuous supply of gas to the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project.
Ekpo said as much in a statement released on Monday by the minister’s spokesperson, Louis Ibah, when he led a group from Nigeria to Rabat, Morocco, to meet with Ms. Leila Benali, the country’s Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, and other project authorities.
The NNPCL and the Moroccan Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines reached a deal in December 2016 that included the proposal for the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline.
The NNPCL was given permission by the Federal Executive Council in June 2022 to negotiate a pipeline development deal with ECOWAS. Ekpo was cited as assuring his host of President Bola Tinubu’s dedication to the project’s success.
He state, “President Bola Tinubu is passionate about this initiative and will do everything possible to ensure that we get to the end of it. It is a long-term project but it will succeed. My assurance to you and the people of Morocco is that gas will not be a problem as far as Nigeria is concerned.”
Nigeria will be crucial to the product’s promotion inside the African Union and the European Union, according to Ekpo.
“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.
The pipeline project would act as a catalyst for regional and continental development, according to the Moroccan Minister of Energy.
To expedite the process of reaching the final investment decision on the $30 billion Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline, the Federal Government has stepped up talks with Morocco.
The Republic of Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco are anticipated to be the pipeline’s path, with a spur to Spain leading to its termination.