A delegation led by Director General of the National Office for Hydrocarbons and Mining (ONHYM) Amina Benkhadra took part, on Wednesday in Abuja, in a meeting with the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), organized by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to present the progress of the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline project which will also serve several West African countries. The purpose of this meeting, which was attended by NNPC representatives, the Director of Energy and Mining of the ECOWAS Commission, the Chief of office of the President of ECOWAS Commission, experts of this regional organization as well as the ambassador of Morocco to Nigeria, is to officially present the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project and to examine methods of cooperation between ECOWAS and the two parties for the implementation of this project. The Director of Energy and Mining of ECOWAS said that energy is a priority for the organization which has developed a strategy for the establishment of an integrated domestic market for energy, affirming that ECOWAS welcomes the initiative of Morocco and Nigeria regarding the gas pipeline linking the two countries and serving several countries of West Africa. He underlined in this regard the excellent relations between Morocco, and ECOWAS and its member states, adding that ECOWAS is ready to work with Nigeria and Morocco for carrying out this structuring project. The Director of Energy and Mining of ECOWAS, who hoped that the Nigeria-Morocco Pipeline would take into account projects under study in the sub-region to develop synergies, stressed that the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline, as a unifying trans-regional project, will contribute to achieving the objectives of ECOWAS economic development's integration and acceleration. The meeting, during which a presentation on the main findings of the study on the gas pipeline project led by an international consulting firm was given, also touched on how ECOWAS will collaborate to carry out this project. A Memorandum of Understanding between NNPC/ONHYM and ECOWAS on the modalities of this cooperation is expected to be signed by the parties.
