At a press conference in Tripoli on Saturday, Oil and Gas Minister Mohamed Aoun revealed that his ministry had presented the Libyan government with a study for the proposed Nigeria gas pipeline to Europe, which was originally planned to run through Algeria, to instead run through Libya.
Minister Aoun’s advisor, Ahmed Elghaber, told Libya Herald on the sidelines of the press conference that the potential Nigeria-Libya gas pipeline would add to the potential African gas supply network.
He explained that, in their mutual interest as major oil and gas producing countries in Africa, Libya and Nigeria’s Ministers of Oil and Gas compared preliminary notes on the matter in a recent oil ministerial meeting of the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO). Elghaber said they explored possible plans to extend a desert-crossing pipeline from Nigeria to Europe, crossing Libya and Niger.
Consequently, Libya’s Cabinet authorized the Oil and Gas Ministry to conduct a grass-roots study of such a potential pipeline in coordination with Nigeria. However, Libya’s political stability is a prime factor in deciding the fate of this optional pipeline, Elghaber stressed.
On the back of the Ukraine war, any additional gas to European markets in the current gas supply market would be highly appreciated. Hence, if this pipeline is realized, it would be highly valued by the world’s gas supply market, he added.
Elghaber, Aoun’s advisor, explained that there are two other options for bringing Nigerian gas to Europe. The first route is through Algeria, which is very likely given the pipeline proposal’s advanced stage.
The other option is to travel through a series of Western African countries before reaching Spain via Morocco. This option appears to have passed the feasibility stage and may now be considered a viable project.
