April 2009 Vol. 236 No. 4

Projects

French Oil Company May Take Stake In TSGP

Total is interested in a stake in the Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline (TSGP) should the project go ahead, joining interest from Gazprom and the national oil companies of Nigeria and Algeria.

Total is the first major to express interest in participating in the giant 30-Bcm/y, US$19 billion project, which would pipe gas from Nigeria’s Niger Delta region through the Sahara desert to the northern Algerian Mediterranean coast, in order to supply European markets.

TSGP offers one of few possible alternatives for Europe to dilute its dependence on Russian gas. Still, the giant undertaking — as well as Nigerian, Algerian, and regional security concerns — makes its realization uncertain.