Morocco recently announced that it has completed its plans / preparations to develop the Morocco-Nigeria Gas Pipeline Project (NMGP). A new regional onshore and offshore pipeline that aims to bring natural gas resources from Nigeria to Morocco through West and North Africa.
The NMGP is expected to provide natural gas resources from Nigeria to 13 countries in West and North Africa as an extension of the existing West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP) between Nigeria, Benin, Togo and the Ghana.
The Cherifian kingdom has also indicated that it has set up a downstream division of the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM), a public body representing its interests in the field of exploration and production of hydrocarbons and mineral resources, and which is in charge of the NMGP project.
In addition, the Spanish multinational Naturgy Energy Group announced on November 10 that it was in talks with Morocco and Algeria to possibly obtain an extension of the gas transit agreement for the supply of Algerian gas in the Gaz-Maghreb-Europe (GME) pipeline via Morocco to Spain.
Sources familiar with the matter reveal that “gas deliveries via the GME pipeline fell to zero on November 1 after the long-term transit agreement between Algeria and Morocco was not renewed before its expiration on October 31 ”.
According to the same sources, Morocco, which has estimated its resources at some 300 Tcf of conventional and unconventional gas in place, could replace the gas lost from Algeria to Spain via the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline.
As a reminder, the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline was proposed in an agreement in December 2016 between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Moroccan National Office for Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM).
