The National Unity government of Libya has offered to use its territory to ship gas from Nigeria to Europe. According to Libya’s Minister of Oil and Gas, Mohammed Aoun, the two gas pipeline projects that pass through Algeria and Morocco are at least 1,000 kilometers longer than the distance between Nigeria’s gas wells and European markets, which lowers the cost of transportation and, in turn, lowers gas prices. To accomplish this objective however, Libya must overcome numerous obstacles in the areas of security, finances, technology, and markets. Additionally, it is racing against time because Europe wants to be carbon neutral by 2050.
In June, it was first announced that a pipeline project to transfer gas from Nigeria to Libya will be established. In a press conference at the time, Mohammed Hammouda, the spokesperson for the Libyan Government of National Unity, disclosed that the government had “permitted the ministry of Oil and Gas to conduct technical and economic studies for the feasibility of establishing a gas pipeline project from Nigeria passing Niger or Chad to Europe via Libya. Mohammed Aoun, the minister of oil and gas in Libya, declared on September 25 that the administration had received the study. According to the preliminary analysis, Niger should be used as the pipeline’s crossing point rather than Chad. Within six months, an extensive research was to be conducted.
