Gas: Niger, Algeria and Nigeria Reach Milestone for Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline Project
The Ministry of Petroleum of the Republic of Niger has announced that the country has reached a new milestone in further opening the domestic and regional gas market through a development in the construction of the multi-billion Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP) alongside Algeria and Nigeria.
Mahamane Sani Mahamadou, Minister of Petroleum for the Republic of Niger, met with Mohamed Arkab, Minister of Energy and Mines, Algeria, and Chief Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources of Nigeria as well as the Director Generals of national oil companies (NOCs) of the three African countries met to discuss the implementation of the TSGP on June 20, 2022, in Abuja. During the meeting – which follows the signing of the ‘Niamey Declaration’ during the 3rd Forum of the Economic Community of West African States in February 2022 – parties established a taskforce and roadmap for the development of the TSGP.
A Steering Committee made up of the three Ministers and Director Generals of the NOCs, established during the two-day meeting, will be responsible for updating the feasibility study for TSGP and will meet at the end of July 2022 in Algiers to discuss how to progress with the TSGP project.
With energy poverty increasing across the African continent due to limited investments in energy projects, delays in exploration, production and infrastructure rollout, the COVID-19 pandemic and global energy transition-related policies, the TSGP project will bring in a new era of energy reliability for Africa. With the 4,128 km pipeline running from Warri in Nigeria to Hassi R’Mel in Algeria via Niger, the pipeline will not only create a direct connection between Nigeria and Algeria’s gas fields to European markets but will bring significant benefits for Niger. With over 34 billion cubic meters of gas, Niger, in its own rights, has the potential to become a gas exporter, and with Europe expanding energy ties with Africa, the TSGP project will mark a new era of improved regional cooperation in Africa, enhancing gas monetization and exports while scaling up Niger-exports to Europe via Algeria.
