The Moroccan Nigerian gas pipeline offers the best alternative to curb Europe’s dependence on Russian gas which Moscow has been using as a leverage to expand its political influence in the EU, Newslook said.
The website argues that increasing dependence of Europe on Russian gas will make US allies in the old continent prey to Russian pressure.
Neslook however argues that so far Russian gas remains the cheapest in view of the short distance from Russian gas fields and the safest but the political cost for Western Europe will be huge.
‘’So, every attempt to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas encounters the obstacle of high prices, while the Russian-German gas pipeline project will result in a price drop by 25%,’’ Newslook said.
It warned that Russian strategic intentions reveal that Moscow is seeking to regain its hegemony on the market so that it can then impose its political positions not only over states that were part of the former Soviet Union, but also over the rest of the continent.
While US gas is an expensive alternative due to distance and a pipeline channeling gas from Qatar is unreliable due to insecurity in Syria, the report cites the Moroccan-Nigerian pipeline as the sole alternative that can compete with Russian gas.
It said that Morocco argues that transatlantic gas pipeline with Nigeria is the safest as opposed to the transaharian pipeline proposal linking Nigeria to Algeria which is shorter but riskier.
‘’The gas project across the Algerian road faces many security challenges, the most important of which is its passage through the Sahel region, which to this day is considered a safe haven for terrorist organizations and cross-border crime gangs,’’ the report said.
In contrast the report highlights the feasibility of the Moroccan Nigerian gas pipeline which ‘’lies in creating an economic partnership between all the transit countries, including African and European ones. And enabling not only Nigerian gas to reach Europe, but also Mauritania and Senegal,’’ it said.