Withdraws From Gas Pipeline Project With Algeria
Algerian hesitations in advancing the project are the main reason for Mauritania's withdrawal from this important project.
Mauritania announced on Thursday, January 23, 2025, its withdrawal from the project to construct a gas pipeline intended to connect its territory to Algeria. This project followed a preliminary agreement signed between the two countries about two and a half years ago!
“Mauritians have shown no willingness to bring this project to fruition,” which “has not progressed since the visit of Algerian Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab to Mauritania in June 2022,” said a Mauritanian source!
The same source added: The agreement signed between the Algerian Institute of Petroleum (IAP), a subsidiary of Sonatrach, and the Mauritanian Hydrocarbons Company (SMH) in the fields of training and development of expertise was never implemented!
Signed in early 2024, it was supposed to “develop the technical and professional skills of engineers and employees of the Mauritanian company.”
For the record, in 2022, Algiers and Nouakchott signed a memorandum of understanding on energy and mining cooperation, as well as another to ensure the supply of the Mauritanian market with hydrocarbons and butane gas based on global market conditions.
The agreements also focused on the “rehabilitation and expansion of oil storage capacity in Mauritania and the promotion of the input industry.” Information exchanges were also planned in the fields of refining and hydrocarbon processing.
Mauritanian technical teams had developed a plan to accelerate the implementation of priority projects, with a particular focus on a joint exploration program for the sedimentary basins of Tindouf (Algeria) and Taoudenni (Mauritania), a project that has faced massive delays!
It must be said that Algeria’s “failure to meet” the established execution schedule for this signed project ultimately discouraged the Mauritanian side.
Source/Le7tv
