Page 7 - AfrOil Week 08 2022

AfrOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AfrOil

TSGP would carry up to 30bn cubic metres per Engineering work for the 1,980-km oil pipe-
year of gas from Warri in Nigeria’s Delta State line was carried out by firms linked to backer
across Niger and then to Algeria’s Hassi R’Mel China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), with
gas hub, where it could then be transferred into the Chinese company and partner Wapco Benin
existing infrastructure that runs to southern kicking off the initial construction phase in late
Europe. 2019. The conduit will run 1,295 km through
The price of the project has been estimated at Niger and 685 km through Beninese territory,
$13bn, much of which is expected to be spent on linking Agadem to the port of Seme.
construction work in Niger. It will have a throughput capacity of around
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) and commercial
Resources Timipre Sylva said during the sign- operations were anticipated early this year but
ing ceremony: “This project will be transfor- a revised timeline now suggests sometime in
mational for all the countries involved, and we 2023.
in Nigeria are committed wholly to making it a CNPC’s China Petroleum Technology &
success. It will bring jobs and much needed rev- Development Co. subsidiary is handling pro-
enue from gas monetisation.” curement for the project and 13,000 pipeline
The pipeline project has been discussed since segments were shipped from the port of Tianjin
the 1970s, with several routes suggested amid to Benin in January 2020, with these arriving in
concerns about security risks. Cotonou a month later. ™
In 2019, a proposal was submitted for an
unlikely 5,660-km offshore pipeline running
through 12 countries to be built in phases over
25 years as an extension of the existing 678-km
West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP) – which runs
from Nigeria to western Ghana via Benin and
Togo. This was ultimately dropped for the sig-
nificantly more direct land route.
Speaking during the event, African Energy
Chamber’s executive chairman NJ Ayuk said
that the pipeline would “improve energy secu-
rity, create good-paying jobs and expand much
needed economic growth,” noting key mile-
stones and the signing of agreements could be
anticipated by October 2022.
The dignitaries singled out Niger as the main
beneficiary of the development. The West Afri-
can country is working to establish itself as a
regional hub for hydrocarbons, petrochemicals
and associated products.
In May 2021, the Beninese government and
West African Oil Pipeline Benin Co. (Wapco
Benin) formally launched the construction of
the Niger-Benin Export Pipeline (NBEP). Sylva (L), Mahamadou (C) and Arkab (R) on February 16 in Niamey (Photo: AEC)

INVESTMENT
Chevron reportedly looking to sell stakes

in three Equatoguinean offshore fields

EQUATORIAL GUINEA CHEVRON (US) is reportedly seeking to York-based investment bank, to run the sale
unload the assets in Equatorial Guinea that process, they said.
it acquired through the takeover of Hou- The sale could raise as much as $1bn, Reuters’
ston-based Noble Energy in 2020. sources said. Chevron is hopeful that the assets
Three sources in the oil and gas industry will attract interest because of rising energy
told Reuters on February 21 that Chevron prices, they added.
had decided to sell three Equatoguinean fields As of press time, the report could not be
– Aseng, Yolanda and Alen. The US major confirmed. Chevron and Jefferies have both
has hired Jefferies Financial Group, a New declined to comment on the matter.

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