Officials from Algeria, Nigeria and Niger signed new contracts Tuesday aimed at accelerating the development of a vast natural gas pipeline toward Europe, the Algerian press agency APS reported.
The Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP), announced in 2009, would transport billions of cubic metres of gas 4,128 kilometres (2,565 miles) from Nigeria in West Africa through Niger and on to Algeria.
From there it could be pumped through the undersea Mediterranean pipeline Transmed to Italy, or loaded onto liquefied natural gas tankers for export.
At a meeting of ministers for the project in Algiers, the three countries signed contracts on “an update of the feasibility study” and other issues, including non-disclosure agreements among their state energy companies.
The feasibility update will lay out the “required means for accelerating the development of this major project in a timely manner and at competitive costs”, Algerian Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab said.
No update was given for the pipeline’s cost, which was estimated at launch at $10 billion.
The project has been given new urgency by a surge in gas demand worldwide and soaring prices sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
