Nigeria Urges UAE To Support $25bn Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline

Nigeria has opened discussion with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seeking funding backing to develop and fulfill the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline project.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) is midwifing the discussions as it invited the UAE’s ADNOC, to back the planned project estimated at $25-26 billion.

The NNPC Group Chief Executive, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, dropped the hint in an interview at ADIPEC in Abu Dhabi.

At the session Ojulari, said the talks followed an agreement signed in September by countries along the route.

The 6,800-km line, led jointly with Morocco’s ONHYM, is designed to carry up to 30 billion cubic metres a year through 13 Atlantic coastal countries. The project cost is put at $25 billion (about AED 91.8 billion). The company said in June that 15 billion cubic meters (bcm) a year would go to Morocco and on to Europe.

Ojulari said the project would be built in phases, taking in the existing West African Gas Pipeline, in which the company holds 24.9 per cent. He said the line would be extended to Sierra Leone and earn revenue there before reaching the next country.

Nigeria, Algeria and Niger have aligned on a funding structure for the $10-13 billion (about AED 36.7-47.7 billion) Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, and Ojulari expects to start discussing a final investment decision in 2027. 

Zawya reported that the 4,327-km line also involves Sonatrach and Niger’s SONIDEP, and that construction of the new Algerian section began in June 2026.

At the summit, Ojulari said NNPC has set no timeline for an initial public offering, though a business assessment, using the advisers on Aramco’s IPO, is complete. 

He told Reuters that the company is considering selling 5 per cent to 10 per cent of its equity, with the offer aimed mainly at Nigeria’s domestic market. The baseline assessment was submitted in September