Signed and sealed: says Algeria's Minister of Energy Chakib Khelil
Trans-Sahara pipe deal sealed
Nigeria, Algeria and Niger today signed an agreement to build the multi-billion dollar Trans-Sahara pipeline, which could carry up to 30 billion cubic metres of gas per annum to Europe.
"We have the expertise and I don't think there is a problem with finance in this project. I don't think there is a problem with a market. The market is there," Reuters quoted Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil as saying at a ceremony in Nigeria's capital Abuja.
The project, with capital costs estimated at $10 billion for the pipeline and $3 billion for gathering centres, would send West African gas via a 4128 kilometre pipeline from Nigeria via Niger and Algeria.
The European Union has said the Trans-Sahara project could help diversify its energy sources but the project had been stuck on the drawing board for years.
France's Total, Shell and Russia's Gazprom have all expressed interest in helping Nigeria's state-run Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Algeria's counterpart Sonatrach in the project.
Gazprom and NNPC agreed to invest at least $2.5 billion to explore and develop Africa's biggest oil and gas sector, including building the first part of the Trans-Sahara pipeline.
Some analysts see Russia's keen interest in the West African country as an attempt to keep its grip on Europe's natural gas supplies.
Nigeria has estimated natural gas reserves of 180 trillion cubic feet, the seventh largest in the world.
Its liquefied natural gas company Nigeria LNG says it already provides 10% of world supply, much of it to Europe and North America.
But Nigeria has not been able to develop its gas industry to anywhere near its full potential because of a lack of funds.