USD 12 bln Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline Project to miss deadline

All the companies that showed interest became pessimistic on security along the pipeline route and the increasing costs.

In 2003, SONATRACH and NNPC signed an M.O.U. to carry out a feasibility study from Nigeria to Europe, passing through Niger and Algeria.

The venture was registered under NEPAD program and called Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline Project. It is expected to contribute to the consolidation of the co-operation between the South and the North in the energy field. The proposed gas pipeline will stretch 2,303 km across Algeria and 220 km from Algeria to Spain, 841 km from Algeria to Niger, 1,037 km from Nigeria to the Niger border.

It will have an estimated annual capacity of 30 billion cubic litres of natural gas, thus help Nigeria achieve zero gas flaring by 2020 and was expected to be operational by 2018.

But the USD 12 billion Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline Project (TSGP) remains an illusion, 17 years after it was conceived, so is Nigeria’s goal to achieve zero gas flaring by 2020.

A treaty was signed to build the pipeline by Nigeria with Niger and Algeria, which would start from Calabar and pass through Kano to the border. The estimated length of the pipeline was a total 4,400 km.

The Federal Government also approved a budget of USD 400 billion for the commencement of the pipeline in 2013. But all the companies that showed interest became pessimistic on security along the pipeline route and the increasing costs.