Page 5 - AfrOil Week 19 2022

AfrOil COMMENTARY AfrOil

The two countries signed an MoU a year ago to with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) pro-
carry out two years of studies for the construc- viding more than $15mn.
tion of a cross-border refined product pipeline.
The Angola-Zambia Oil Pipeline (AZOP), the Competitors?
plans for which have gone through numerous It appears that Zambia is not the only country
iterations, is now expected to cost around $5bn, spreading its bets, with Nigeria signing a docu-
roughly double the figure quoted around a dec- ment in February outlining plans with Algeria
ade ago. and Niger to develop a cross-border conduit
Also known as the Refined Petroleum Mul- that, while theoretically operable in unison with
ti-Product and Natural Gas Pipeline Project NMGP, would doubtless compete for funding.
(AZOP), it is expected to run 1,400 km through The $13bn Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline
the so-called Lobito Corridor, connecting the (TSGP) would run northward through Nigerian
Lobito plant in the coastal Benguela Province territory and eastern Niger to Algeria’s Hassi
to Lusaka. The conduit is expected to have a R’Mel gas field. At Hassi R’Mel, TSGP could
throughput capacity of 100,000 barrels of oil then connect to existing gas pipelines that pump
equivalent per day (boepd), comprising gaso- Algerian gas to Europe, such as the Medgaz link Although export
line, diesel and gas. to Spain or the TransMed link to Italy.
The project was initially led by Zambian According to the agreement, the 4,128-km markets remain
copper firm Basali Ba Liseli Resources, but the pipeline will carry up to 30bn cubic metres per strategic, efforts
company was not mentioned in the MoU, which year of gas from Warri in Nigeria’s Delta State to
was signed by Sonangol and Zambia’s Industrial Hassi R’Mel. to improve
Development Corp. (IDC) who have taken up Speaking to NewsBase, Ian Simm, princi-
strategic equity positions. pal advisor at consultancy IGM Energy, said: interconnectivity
“Trans-Sahara plans have been on the drawing
NMGP attracts interest board for at least 40 years, and while no pro- within Africa are
To the north, following the recent announce- gress had been made to-date, the fact that it is gaining ground
ment of a contract award for engineering design onshore would appear to give it favour. How-
and environmental studies for the 7,000-km ever, traversing the Sahara is no mean feat, and
Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP), a top militant activity in the area may actually make
Nigerian official said that Russia had expressed the offshore line a more attractive proposition.
an interest in investing in the project. If Nigeria and Morocco can secure buy-in
While there are feasibility issues related to from the array of countries the line would pass
a project that would run through the territo- through, the NM line could act as a West African
ries of 13 African countries and provide gas to gas grid and derive political and financial sup-
Spain and beyond via the Gaz Maghreb-Europe port from the Economic Community of West
(GME) pipeline, perhaps more palpable is the African States (ECOWAS).”
sense of irony that Russia is seeking to invest in a Elsewhere in the region, Benin and Niger are
project aimed, indirectly, at weaning European developing the 1,980-km Niger-Benin Export
states off Russian gas. Line, with Chinese contractors working to pipe
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources 90,000 bpd of Nigerien crude to the port of Seme
Timipre Sylva told reporters in Abuja: “The by the end of 2023.
Russians were with me in the office last week. While exporting crude and LNG to global
They are very desirous to invest in this project markets will remain an important strategic pillar
and there are lots of other people who are also for African producers, projects to improve inter-
desirous to invest in the project.” connectivity within the continent appear to be
He added: “This is a pipeline that is going building up head of steam not seen for around
to take our gas all through a lot of countries in a decade. ™
Africa and also, all the way to the edge of the
African continent, where we can have access to
the European market as well,” expressing hope
that the government might at least begin work
on the pipeline before its term ends in a year’s
time.
The first 678 km of the line has, in effect,
already been built as the backers intend to make
the new line an extension of the existing West
Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP), which runs from
Nigeria to western Ghana via Benin and Togo.
Sylva noted that funds have not yet been
secured for the pipeline’s development but
asserted that “many people are showing inter-
est” in the project.
Meanwhile, news emerged last week that
the OPEC Fund for International Development
was ready to contribute $14.3mn to finance the
front-end engineering and design (FEED) con-
tract recently awarded to Worley (Australia), African consumer states are looking to establish new suply routes (File Photo)

Week 19 11•May•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P5