West Africa as a gas corridor to Europe via Morocco? An intergovernmental agreement on the USD 25 bn Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline — also named the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline — is set to be signed this year. The 6.9k-km hybrid offshore-onshore line is designed to move up to 30 bcm annually, with 15 bcm earmarked for Morocco and exports into Europe.

The project is done with studies: The pipeline has cleared feasibility and front-end engineering design, which means the engineering logic is in place. The next step is political plumbing, with a Nigeria-based “high-authority” bringing together ministers from 13 countries to align regulation.

Now moving into build-and-fund mode: A JV between Morocco and Nigeria’s state oil companies will take point on execution, financing, and construction, with the financing expected to come through a mix of equity and debt raised by the project company.

The rollout strategy is modular — because no one’s writing a USD 25 bn check upfront. Early phases prioritize linking Morocco to gas in Mauritania and Senegal, and connecting Ghana with Côte d’Ivoire — before the final stretch ties into Nigeria’s reserves.

First gas from these initial segments is targeted for 2031, with each section structured as a standalone system to generate early value build-up rather than waiting for a single all-or-nothing FID.

Competition for nat gas across the Med is heating up

Algeria is pushing a rival route: The long-stalled Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline has been in revival mode, positioned as a faster, more direct corridor for Nigerian gas into Europe. The 4k km pipeline — estimated at a lower USD 13 bn cost — would carry 20-30 bcm annually through Niger into Algeria’s existing Mediterranean export network, led by Sonatrach.

Two corridors, same gas, same buyers: The Algerian route leans on existing pipelines to Italy and export terminals to plug into Europe quicker, while the Moroccan route stretches longer and wider, aiming to integrate multiple West African markets along the way. Both are chasing the same Nigerian resource base and the same European demand pool, but the race will likely come down to which model can line up financing, political alignment, and delivery timelines first.

Why this matters: This move comes as West Africa aims to position itself as a gas corridor into Europe as the bloc diversifies and reduces dependency on politicized US LNG, the volatile spot market, and Russian pipeline gas. For Morocco, it’s a wager on becoming a transit and re-export node via its infrastructure — competing with upcoming hubs in the Mediterranean like Egypt and Algeria.

But recent tender setbacks hint at political roadblocks

Morocco hit a tender break earlier this year: Morocco froze the tender process for its USD 1 bn LNG import terminal and pipeline corridor at Nador West Med Port, after projections from the Finance Ministry. A new tender may be in the works, but no timeline was given by Moroccan officials.

Bureaucratic infighting? The memo shows the Finance Ministry criticizing the release of the tender — which the Energy Ministry launched last month — without its sign-off on the project’s eligibility for a public-private partnership status and pointing to a lack of clarity on which government agency should lead the project. The ministry also raised concerns about “budget sustainability” and an “unbalanced allocation of risks between the private operator and the public entity,” Reuters reports.

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