The Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline
August 16, 2009
At Jamestown, Riccardo Fabiani has an article on the Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline, a project to connect natural gas in Nigeria with Europe via a pipeline through the Saharan regions of Niger and Algeria. More gas from Africa (Nigeria, Algeria, Libya, etc) could help in the EU’s gas battles with Russia, for one thing. But, needless to say, there are some complications. Not least that each of the tree states involved has its own running insurgency: MEND in Nigeria, MNJ in Niger and AQIM in Algeria.
Well, read the whole thing.
Interesting. I’ve got a piece I’ve been meaning to post on this, but my new job has made it difficult to finish. Would think one would see more on this in the media in general, but not so much.
Spoke with an Algerian acquaintance with knowledge of the project who described Russia’s attempt to participate from the Nigerian end as, and I paraphrase here, a kind of buggery and an attempt directly against Algeria (he used some third worldist lingo as well, saying Russia keeps trying to pretend it’s helping or is a part of the “south” when it just like the other Europeans, etc.). Some people seem to think there’s a lot riding on this…
Mirage is the best word. Listen, Algeria can’t even get proper investment into the old electricity export mirage (early 2000s project), which was actually feasible.
Poutine indicated Russia interest in the TSGP when he visited Gadhafi last year. Indeed Gadhafi and Poutine announced together their interest in the TSGP in Tripoli. A week later, Algeria resumed military cooperation with Russia (weeks earlier, Algeria was returning loads of russian-made planes to Russia). Two more weeks and Gazprom opened an office in Algeria. The threat of manipulating Tuaregs in Niger was enough ….