Amina Benkhadra, Director General of the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (Onhym), has come out of her usual reserve on the Morocco-Nigeria pipeline project speaking on a daily basis The Economist.
In its edition of Friday, May 24, and based on the exclusive statements of a Moroccan official, the daily confirms that this year 2024 will be decisive for the project that “is progressing according to the established plan“. As a bonus, the start of the EPC (Engineering Procurement and Construction) tender is very close.
Benkhadra thus explains that the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline project has made great progress, including the finalization of its detailed preliminary project study (Front-End Engineering Design – FEED) and the start of monitoring activities and environmental studies in the field. “The finalization of the EPC package, for the tender for construction, is scheduled for the end of 2024.», emphasizes DG of Onhym.
The final investment decision (FID) can be made next year, when the financing is completed. Let us remind you that the completion of this project will cost more than 25 billion dollars. The investment decision, as in any project of this type, is made after four essential streams have been finalized: the technical stream, the financial stream, the commercial stream and the political stream. Work is underway with the aim of making the final investment decision in 2025, Benkhadra specifies.
“Negotiations aimed at signing an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between all partner countries are also progressing satisfactorily. This strategic megaproject, which will connect Africa with Europe, has thus reached several decisive stages. The conducted evaluations confirm the robustness of the project», we read again.
Dimensioning, routing and economic analysis studies confirming the economic viability of the project were completed with the completion of detailed preliminary design studies. The concept is robust, the corridor is fixed. The ecological and field studies that are currently being carried out aim to minimize the impacts on the environment and society.
“The project implementation plan also foresees the establishment of a project company in 2024, which will be in charge of financing, execution of works and business management. The company’s capital is currently under discussion“, writing The Economist.
Once completed, the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline will supply gas to all West African countries, and will also represent a new export route to Europe.