The creation of a regional oil and gas pipeline network and hub infrastructure was agreed to by the countries of Central Africa on Thursday. Supporters claim that this will increase energy security and lessen reliance on imported refined goods. According to project documents reviewed by Reuters, the project intends to build three international oil and gas pipelines totaling over 6,500 km, storage facilities, liquefied natural gas terminals, at least three refineries, and gas-fired power plants linking 11 nations by 2030. All of Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Gabon, Chad, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Congo Republic are among the nations that produce oil or have enormous unexplored deposits of oil and gas, yet they are all reliant on imported refined goods.
Most of them struggle with fuel and electricity shortages that have been made worse by the Ukraine conflict and have little to no refining capacity. Prior to the signing event in Cameroon, Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, the Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of OPEC member Equatorial Guinea, told the forum that the project was essential to combating energy poverty in the area. “It will not be cheap or easy, but if it is done as a collaboration, it will work. He added that the network will help get rid of trucks crisscrossing countries and replace them with trains. He said the project was inspired by the West African gas pipeline connecting Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Ghana as well as the European model where Rotterdam serves as a refining and distributing hub for several countries.
Omar Farouk Ibrahim, Secretary General of APPO, said the project is one of the most ambitious energy infrastructure projects whose completion has the potential to dramatically change the economies of participating countries. “It shall take energy from areas of abundance to areas of need within the Central African sub-region. It shall integrate and energize the national economies of the Central African sub-region,” Ibrahim said.
