The Trans-Saharan gas pipeline project: enhancing energy security in Europe despite geopolitical shifts

Abstract

Natural gas is the main component of Nigeria's Gas Decade Strategy (2021–2030), which aims to promote regional industrialization and domestic growth. The country has significant gas reserves that place it among the top nations in Africa. Africa's steel, petrochemical, manufacturing, and fertilizer industries depend on a steady supply of gas, which helps close the gap in energy access. Additionally, initiatives like the Ajaka–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) pipeline and the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (NLNG), which connects Africa to Europe via Niger and Algeria, seek to increase exports of liquefied natural gas to Europe and Asia, while reforms like the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 and the Flared Gas Utilization Program aim to balance investment, environmental goals, and the energy sector's transition ambitions, positioning gas as a transition fuel by 2060. Russian natural gas imports, which had accounted for 45% of European consumption in 2021, fell by 80% as a result of the European Union's energy crisis brought on by the worsening geopolitical scenario following the Russia-Ukraine crisis in February 2022. The European Union realized that finding new suppliers outside of Russia was essential to its energy security in 2022 when the natural gas market was severely disrupted. This study looks at Nigeria's intentions for the natural gas industry and how it might help several African nations and areas industrialize.