Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Netanyahu: If Lebanese Army takes steps to disarm Hezbollah, Israel will engage in reciprocal measures, including phased reduction of Israeli military presence in Lebanon
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Photojournalist Houssam Al-Masri martyred, reporters Hatem Omar, Mohammad Ashraf Salameh injured in Israeli strike on Nasser Medical Complex.
Israeli media: Intense US efforts are being made to resolve differences, such as the issue of the Israeli presence on Mount Hermon and in southern Syria
Israeli media: The security agreement means amending the disengagement agreement, which will also address the Druze issue
Israeli media: Attempts to reach a security agreement between 'Israel' and Syria were among the topics discussed at the Paris meeting
Israeli media: Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif rejected a US proposal to join the recent tripartite meeting between Tom Barrack, al-Shaibani, and Dermer
Saba News Agency: Two martyred, five injured in a preliminary toll of the Israeli aggression on the Yemeni Oil Company station on Al-Sitteen Street in Sanaa
Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: We observed a state of confusion among the enemy's aircraft squadron after Yemeni air defenses intercepted the attack
Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: The Yemeni air defense forces succeeded in neutralizing a squadron of enemy aircraft and prevented airstrikes on some governorates
Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: Our air defenses and missile forces forced a formation of enemy aircraft to flee the airspace

Nigerian gas to Europe: Algiers, Rabat race to build pipeline projects

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 3 Mar 2023 00:54
5 Min Read

An EU senior official says that despite the urgent need now, the projects might be launched at a time when Europe will stop buying gas entirely in its pivot away from fossil fuels.

  • x
  • Gas race to Europe: Algiers, Rabat compete to build pipeline projects
    The Algerian flag next to the Moroccan flag (AFP)

The race to provide energy-thirsty Europe with gas has started between the North African adversaries: Algeria and Morocco.

In attempts to supply the continent, which was trying to decrease its reliance on fossil fuel prior to the Ukraine war, both countries are pursuing to revive old gas pipeline projects that have been delayed for long.

While Morocco is working to establish a 6,000 km - 23 billion euros gas pipeline from Nigeria, which passes near the coasts of 13 African countries and is expected to supply billions of cubic meters of natural gas to the Kingdom, Algeria is going after reinstating old plans to build a Trans-Saharan pipeline from Nigeria passing through Niger to its Mediterranean coast.

Read more: Italy, Libya ink $8 billion dollar energy deal

Morroco's gas project, which was first announced in 2016, will reach the European continent by passing through the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline (GME) into Spain and Portugal.

On the other hand, Algeria can transfer natural gas through the undersea Transmed pipeline through the Mediterranean to Italy, passing through Tunisia, or it can send it via tankers as liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Nigerian Oil Minister Timipre Sylva told AFP that currently a study plan is being conducted to check the project's viability, adding that some countries have already signed the project, but no official start date has been decided.

Read more: Energy company ENI announces discovery of new gas field in Egypt coast

Algeria, Africa's largest gas exporter and Europe's third-largest supplier, signed in July 2022 a memorandum of understanding MoU with Niamey and Abuja to build an 18 billion euros gas pipeline that extends over more than 4,000 km.

Earlier in January, Algerian Sonatrach signed two agreements with Italian energy giant Eni, one of which aims to achieve an increase in energy exports from Algeria to Italy and potentially from Algeria to Europe.

Eni then announced in late February the acquisition of two gas-producing concessions from the British oil and gas corporation BP in the North African country.

Too much politics and many parties involved

Related News

Gaza humanitarian aid and the politics of narrative management

Nigeria: 27 killed in armed attack on mosque during dawn prayers

Relations between Algiers and Rabat have been tense for decades over the Western Sahara issue and have witnessed increased deterioration after Morocco normalized ties with the Israeli occupation in late 2020.

Accusing its African neighbor of "hostile acts", Algeria cut all diplomatic ties with Rabat in August 2021, and in 2020 refused to renew a 25-year agreement to pump its natural gas through Morocco to Spain, which included that the latter covers almost all its gas needs from the deal.

Nigeria's Oil Minister admitted that talks over the gas project are complicated.

"There are certain agreements that you must sign with every country" that the pipeline passes through, said Sylva.

Seven of the 13 countries have signed an MoU with Rabat and Abuja last year, in addition to the Economic Community of West African States.

The pipeline can create "a stable, predictable and mutually profitable gas market," noted Moroccan expert Jamal Machrouh, adding that it is of "strategic interest" for the EU.

Rabat is hoping the pipeline, combined with Nigeria's vast hydrocarbon reserves, can create "a stable, predictable, and mutually profitable gas market," said Machrouh.

Both energy projects pipelines could be viable for Europe, as it tries to diversify its imports and not rely on "a single player" for its gas supplies, Machrouh added.

The geopolitics of the projects is messy

Algeria's gas pipeline project could be built in three years and would fill "an important part of Europe's future needs," Algerian researcher Ahmed Tartar said.

However, talking to AFP last September, a Moroccan geopolitics expert noted that "a pipeline like this would be hugely vulnerable, not just to attacks by jihadists but also by local communities if they feel they're getting exploited by a project from which they derive no benefit."

"Then there's the bureaucratic element, which is extremely complex," he stressed. "Then, who's going to finance it?"

Earlier in February, Algerian Minister of Energy Mohamed Arkab said technical research is being conducted on the project, stressing that "this African project will benefit the countries it crosses," including neighboring ones.

Will Europe want the gas in the future?

By the time the projects are established, Europe could have already decreased its reliance on fossil fuels, a long-term plan that was disrupted recently following high energy prices and the overall economic crisis that hit the continent.

EU policy chief Josep Borrell commented on the pipeline last January during a visit to Rabat, saying, "You have to consider when it will be finished. Will we still want to use gas, methane?," suggesting that the North African country should concentrate its efforts on large renewable energy projects, such as solar panel farms and wind turbines, in addition to hydrogen exports to Europe.

A senior European diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity, "In the future, we won't be buying gas anymore."

  • Nigeria
  • Gas pipeline
  • Europe
  • Africa
  • EU
  • Morocco
  • Algeria
  • European Union

Most Read

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, executive director of the defense division of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, undated (Social media)

Israeli-born US prosecutor drops Israeli officer child sex crime

  • Politics
  • 19 Aug 2025
Displaced Palestinians walk through a makeshift camp along the beach in Gaza City, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)

Hamas, other factions accept Egypt-Qatar ceasefire proposal: Exclusive

  • Politics
  • 18 Aug 2025
Palestine will not be liberated by UN reports, but by pursuing a different strategic horizon: one that does not beg for recognition. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Economy of Genocide: Albanese's report accuses, but doesn't dismantle system

  • Opinion
  • 18 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu deliberately derailing truce with Gaza occupation: Hamas

Irish President Michael Higgins arrives to deliver his speech during a 42nd World Food Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Politics

Irish president renews call for UN military intervention in Gaza

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Aukar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy, Netanyahu discuss restraining attacks on Lebanon, withdrawal

Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes in multiple areas in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ansar Allah vow sustained Gaza support despite Israeli strikes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS