By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Algeria government is planning to collaborate with the Nigerian government to make plans to embark on huge gas transportation infrastructure after noticing how Nigeria’s gas supply to markets in Europe is generating interests as key countries in North Africa.
According to a report by Algerian daily El-Jaza’ir Hakkar made the announcement during an interview with National Radio Channel One on Monday, a route for the line had been selected, Blueprint reports.
A pipeline transiting the massive Sahara Desert has been proposed since the 1970s, but was judged prohibitively expensive and faced opposition on a number of fronts, including environmental groups in the Niger River Delta, as well as the danger of militant attacks against construction crews and the completed pipeline. If completed, it would create a new connection between gas sources in Nigeria and markets in Europe, via Algeria’s own gas lines that extend deep into the desert.
Hakkar cautioned that “the decision to launch such an investment” would depend heavily on the price of the gas it would carry, noting that since 2010, the price had fallen from 10 dollars per thermal unit to less than one dollar in 2020.
Mohamed Arkab, Algeria’s Minister of energy and mines, recently noted Algiers would pay “special attention” to the “rapid” embodiment of the project, “which will give a new impetus to the relations between our two countries in terms of technical cooperation and capacity strengthening.”
“This project will have important social and economic results in the transit countries, within the framework of environmental protection and sustainable development,” Arkab added.
However, the enthusiasm for the project in Algiers is scarcely mirrored in Abuja, which according to OilPrice.com is concerned about its ability to secure Chinese funding for the project and has doubts about its ability to complete an internal gas line to its northern Kano state.
However, Sputnik International report says the security of the line would be virtually impossible to guarantee as it passes through territory controlled by militant groups that include Daesh and Al-Qaeda*, especially since the Nigerian government has so far been unable to stop Boko Haram.