The governments of Algeria and Nigeria recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the development of a trans-Saharan gas pipeline that would position Algeria as a transit state for Nigerian gas headed for Europe. The construction of the 4,000-kilometer link is estimated to cost between five and seven billion dollars, reported Industrial Info.
The proposed route for the pipeline begins in Nigeria's southern Delta region, goes through the capital Abuja and the city of Kano and then across Niger and the Sahara Desert to connect to the Algerian pipeline network at Beni Saf port on the Mediterranean coast. The Nigerian gas would then the flow to Spain and through an existing line to Italy.
Previous talks on a joint pipeline project laid around the West African coast to Algeria did not progress as expected. The trans-Sahara project currently under discussion is patterned after another West African initiative, which links Ghana, Nigeria, Togo with the Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana.
OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) members Nigeria and Algeria are eager to tap into the growing European demand for natural gas, Consumption in Western Europe alone is projected to double from 14 trillion cubic feet in 1999 to 28.4 trillion by 2020, according to the US Department of Energy Information Administration. Nigeria has 124 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas while Algeria has 159.7 trillion cubic feet. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
