The Trans-Saharan gas pipeline (TSGP; also known as NIGAL pipeline and Trans-African gas pipeline) is a planned

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

pipeline A pipeline is a system of Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries ...

from

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. It is seen as an opportunity to diversify the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

's gas supplies.

History

The idea of the trans-Saharan pipeline was first proposed in the 1970s. On 14 January 2002, the

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is a state-owned oil company in Nigeria. Still a fully-owned government company, it was transformed from a corporation into a limited liability company in July 2022. NNPC Limited is the on ...

(NNPC) and Algerian national oil and gas company

Sonatrach Sonatrach (; ) is the national state-owned oil company of Algeria. Founded in 1963, it is known today to be the largest company in Africa with 154 subsidiaries, and often referred as the first African oil "major". In 2021, Sonatrach was the seven ...

signed the Memorandum of Understanding for preparations of the project. In June 2005, NNPC and Sonatrach signed a contract with Penspen Limited for a feasibility study of the project. The feasibility study was completed in September 2006, and it found the pipeline to be technically and economically feasible and reliable. On the meeting on 20 February 2009, NNPC and Sonatrach agreed to proceed with the draft Memorandum of Understanding between three governments and the joint venture agreement. The intergovernmental agreement on the pipeline was signed by energy ministers of Nigeria, Niger and Algeria on 3 July 2009 in

Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...

. Safety concerns about the operations have been heightened due to a terrorist insurgency in North Africa, culminating in incidents like the In Aménas hostage crisis of 2013. Nigeria, Niger and Algeria are among the least secure areas in the region because of various active terrorist movements that destabilise them. On 28 July 2022, the Algerian, Nigerian, and Nigerien ministers of energy signed in Algiers a memorandum of understanding for the implementation of the TSGP project, co-signed by Mohamed Arkab, Timipre Sylva, and , respectively.

Route

The pipeline is to start in the Warri region in Nigeria and run north through

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

to Hassi R'Mel in Algeria. In Hassi R'Mel the pipeline is to connect to the existing Trans-Mediterranean, Maghreb–Europe,

Medgaz Medgaz is a submarine natural gas pipeline between Algeria and Spain. History The idea of building a direct gas pipeline between Algeria and Europe arose in the 1970s. However, the technical limitations at that time prevented the construction a ...

and Galsi pipelines. These supply Europe from the gas transmission hubs at El Kala and Beni Saf on Algeria's

Mediterranean coast The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eu ...

. The length of the pipeline would be : in Nigeria, in Niger, and in Algeria.

Technical features

The annual capacity of the pipeline would be up to 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas. It would have a diameter of . The pipeline was originally expected to be operational by 2015. The original investment for the pipeline was expected to be around US$10 billion and for gas gathering centers around $3 billion. the project was still in the prospect phase.

Operator

The pipeline is to be built and operated by the partnership between the NNPC and Sonatrach. The company would include also the Republic of Niger. Initially NNPC and Sonatrach would hold a total 90% of shares, while Niger would hold 10%. Russian gas company

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...

has negotiated with Nigeria about its possible participation in the project. Also Indian company GAIL, France's

Total S.A. TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and is one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas explorat ...

, Italy's Eni SpA and

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

have expressed interest in participating in the project. According to the Algerian energy minister Chakib Khelil "only partners that can bring something to the project, not just money, should be there." Energy ministers of Algeria and Nigeria have said that "if things go well, there will be no need to bring international oil companies into the project" and "if the need for partnership in the project arises, not every partner will be welcome on board on the project."

Opposition to the pipeline

The pipeline is opposed by the Nigerian militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta. A spokesman for the group warned that until issues regarding the exploitation of the

Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitic ...

and its people have been resolved, "any money put into the project will go down the drain."

References

External links

NIGAL project presentation

Gaslink Nigeria Limited
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline Natural gas pipelines in Nigeria Natural gas pipelines in Niger Natural gas pipelines in Algeria Proposed pipelines in Africa Niger–Nigeria relations Algeria–Nigeria relations Algeria–Niger relations Proposed energy infrastructure in Nigeria Proposed energy infrastructure in Algeria Proposed energy infrastructure in Niger