Algerian-Nigerian cooperation is witnessing a new revival, with the return of the trans-Saharan gas pipeline project to the forefront, through field steps aimed at moving from statements to implementation. Relations between the two neighbors witnessed a serious deterioration that reached a rift last year, following the incident of destroying the financial process on the border with Algeria, and Niamey’s alignment with Bamako in denouncing the incident, against the “northern neighbour.”
In this context, the Algerian Minister of State in charge of Hydrocarbons, Mohamed Arkab, discussed in Niamey with the Nigerien authorities the advancement of the project, and agreed to begin topographical surveys and environmental and geotechnical studies of the route.
This step has dimensions that go beyond the energy aspect, as Algeria seeks to strengthen its position as a transit country and consolidate its economic presence in the Sahel region, in conjunction with the intensification of competition over projects to transport Nigerian gas to Europe, especially the Nigerian-Moroccan project.
Last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the Algerian Minister in charge of Hydrocarbons discussed with the Nigerien authorities the implementation of the project that is supposed to transport Nigerian gas to Europe via Niger and Algeria, according to what the ministry stated in its latest statements.
What is new announced this time is tangible, as the Nigerian side is supposed to enter the stage of topographical elevation of the line’s route, in parallel with conducting environmental and geotechnical studies. Last June, the Sonatrach Fuel Complex announced the start of work in the Algerian part.
On the fourth of the same month, the hydrocarbons ministers of Algeria, Niger, and Nigeria officially announced the start of work on the trans-Saharan gas pipeline project from Adrar in the far south of the country. But since then, the project has had difficulty getting off the ground.
According to sources in the energy sector, Algeria is seeking to give an actual character to a project that has been talked about for years. She pointed out that “the bet is also related to strengthening its position as a gas transit country and consolidating its economic influence in the Sahel region.” However, one must be careful not to anticipate the pace of work.”
According to the same sources, between the topographic lift and the entry into service of a gas pipeline extending for thousands of kilometers, there is a very large distance. Also, financing, security of the line's route, political stability in the region, technical studies, and the commitments of various partners are all obstacles that do not disappear simply because the project returns to official statements.
The issue has another aspect related to the internal situation in Niger. Niamey is witnessing a profound rearrangement of its foreign relations and its energy sector, especially after the withdrawal of the uranium exploitation license from the French company Areva since May 2025. On the other hand, Algeria is trying to maintain its influence in a region whose balances have become much more unstable.
In light of the growing movements of Russia, Morocco, and Turkey in the region, and their efforts to expand their influence, Algerian diplomacy faces an increasing challenge to maintain its position and role in the Sahel, especially with regard to a strategic project the size of the trans-Saharan gas pipeline.
Last July, leaders of West African countries officially gave their approval to the transatlantic gas pipeline project between Nigeria and Morocco. Algeria's western neighbor is working relentlessly to pass the valuable gas pipeline through its territory. According to a report broadcast by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the huge gas pipeline, 6,000 kilometers long, will extend along the Atlantic coast of 14 African countries, transporting Nigerian gas to Morocco, before connecting to the existing European gas network via Spain.
In the assessment of observers of this project, which has economic and geostrategic dimensions, the trans-Saharan gas pipeline project represents a major energy project. But it also represents a test of Algeria's ability to transform its African ambitions into tangible economic achievements.
This development comes at a time when Niamey is stressing, at the highest level, the importance of Algerian support in its path in recent years, which was expressed by Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine, before the United Nations General Assembly, when he praised, last Thursday, Algeria’s support for his country, in addition to the support of the “Coalition of Sahel States,” which enabled his country to “stay afloat.”
He said: “Three years ago, some expected Niger to collapse under the weight of sanctions and isolation. Today, Niger is standing on its feet,” and he was referring to the coup that the country witnessed on July 26, 2023.
The Nigerian Prime Minister added: “Niger is standing on its feet because its people refused to bow down... and it is standing because it found within the Confederation of Sahel countries a family and solidarity, a family in every African sense of the word.”
Then he touched on cooperation with Algeria, explaining that “the brotherly and neighboring country chose to accompany Niger through a major investment in exploiting its natural resources, and through continuous support for its defense system.” He added: “With Algeria, we are also working on dynamic cooperation in the fields of health, education, energy, water and agriculture, not to mention structural projects such as the triple gas pipeline and the trans-Saharan road,” noting that his country “has regained control over its internal wealth and its word.”
Algeria and Niger restored their diplomatic relations last February, after several months of estrangement. Since then, the two countries have accelerated their cooperation in several areas, especially energy and defence.
At the end of August, Algeria rushed to help Niger after a failed coup attempt, sending four fighter jets to Niamey accompanied by a plane to refuel.
The closures that hit the Libyan oil sector continue, as a result of the movements of the “Oil Facilities Guard,” threatening production and fuel supplies, and exacerbating financial losses, with the repercussions of closing a valve on the “Sharara” field crude transportation line moving to the “Zawiya” refinery, which forced the “National Oil Corporation” to stop one of its refining units.
The corporation explained in a statement, on Saturday, that the closure of valve No. 7 on the “Sharara-Zawia” line forced it to stop one of the refining units, with the aim of prolonging the operation period of the other unit to the maximum extent possible.
In parallel, the corporation is considering arranging a shipment of crude through the ports of Mellitah or Sidra to temporarily feed the refinery, to avoid transferring the crude shortage to fuel supplies, especially to power stations. The “West Tripoli” and “Harsha” stations need about 5,200 cubic meters of fuel per day.
The cessation of the refining unit comes days after the closure of an oil valve in the “Hamada” area on a line that transports crude from the “Sharara” field to “Zawiya,” which, according to the corporation, led to an increase in pressure inside the line and a decrease in the production of the field, whose capacity reaches about 300 thousand barrels per day.
The refining capacity of the “Zawiya” refinery is about 120 thousand barrels per day, which makes the continued interruption of the crude line affecting oil production and the supply of derivatives in western Libya.
The corporation had previously indicated that its technical teams were unable to reach the valve areas 6 and 7, calling on the Petroleum Facilities Guard in the southwest to reopen the line, while warning of the possibility of declaring “force majeure” if the closure continues.
These developments deepened the losses of the Libyan oil sector, as the total quantities lost during the five days of the closure, according to the corporation, amounted to about 942 thousand and 376 barrels of crude, while the direct financial losses until September 25 exceeded 95 million dollars.
An expert in the Libyan oil sector, Muhammad Al-Shehati, believes that the repercussions of closing the “Sharara” line are not limited to a decrease in crude production, but rather extend through an interconnected chain to various parts of the oil sector.
Al-Shehati highlights that the decline in field production “means a decrease in the quantities of crude available for export, and at the same time reduces the supplies reaching the Zawiya refinery, which limits its ability to meet the needs of the local market for oil derivatives.”
He added to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the continuation of the closure may lead to a reduction in refining operations, or their cessation, which will force Libya to compensate for the shortfall by increasing imports of petroleum derivatives from the global market,” pointing out that these developments “ultimately reflect on the state’s oil revenues, through a decline in crude exports and an increase in the cost of providing fuel to the local market.”
Regarding the demands for salary increases, Al-Shehati believes that they are “justified in light of the large inflation in the economy and the unfairness in the distribution of salaries,” noting that the problem is not limited to members of the “Oil Facilities Guard,” but includes other groups such as teachers and doctors.
But he stresses “the necessity of taking into account the method of protest,” saying: “The demands, even if justified, must not lead to harming the public interest in this serious way.”
The crisis is due to movements initiated by members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard to demand the regularization of their financial and administrative situations and the application of a unified salary scale. It has recently expanded to include closing the gates of the Al-Zawiya Refinery and the Brega Oil Marketing Company, which hindered the entry of workers and the changing of shifts.
Protesters from the agency had given the authorities a 48-hour deadline on the sixth of this month to respond to their demands, before closing the gate to the “Zawiya” oil complex, in addition to a valve on the “Hamada-Zawiya” line, which led to the cessation of production in three fields, while members of the “Facilities Guard” demanded that the agency be transferred financially and administratively to the National Oil Corporation.
The Corporation reported that the Al-Buraiqa Company gate was partially opened, while the main gate of the Al-Zawiya Refinery remained closed, preventing the safe resumption of operations. It warned of the possibility of running out of crude stocks in the refinery tanks, which would then stop the refining units successively, disrupting the supply of oil derivatives to the local market.
On the other hand, the decision of the Prime Minister of the “Interim” Unity Government, Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba, to apply the provisions regulating the salaries of army personnel to members of the “Petroleum Facilities Guard” came as an attempt to contain their demands, but the decision has not yet led to the reopening of the “Spark” line valve.
In a new executive step in its nuclear project, Egypt completed the installation of the “bottom plate” (reactor core) for the well of Unit Three of the “Dabaa Reactor” in the northwest of the country.
The Nuclear Power Plants Authority confirmed the success of installing the bottom plate of the reactor well for the third nuclear unit, in coordination with the Russian general contractor, Atomstroyexport.
The Authority stated in a statement on Saturday that the bottom plate of the reactor well represents “the link between the well equipment and the reactor pressure vessel, and ensures that the reactor pressure vessel is accurately aligned on its vertical axis. It also plays a major role in completing the reactor well system, as it comes within a precise installation sequence; The installation of the reactor pressure vessel in this model is preceded by the installation of the reactor core trap, the pouring of concrete into the support and stabilization structures, and then the installation of dry protection and thermal insulation for the cylindrical part of the vessel.
According to the Authority, the installation of the bottom plate of the reactor well paves the way for the most important event, which is “the installation of the reactor pressure vessel for the third nuclear unit, which is about 13 meters long, 4.5 meters in diameter, and weighs 320 tons.”
On November 19, 2015, Cairo and Moscow signed a cooperation agreement to establish the “Dabaa” station at a cost of $25 billion. Russia provided a soft government loan to Egypt, and in December 2017, the two countries signed final agreements to build the station.
The “Dabaa Plant” includes 4 nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 4,800 megawatts, 1,200 megawatts for each reactor. The first nuclear reactor is scheduled to begin operating in 2028, and then the other reactors will operate successively in 2030, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity.
The Nuclear Power Plants Authority confirmed, on Saturday, that the “bottom plate” of the reactor well of the third nuclear unit at the Dabaa station is one of the essential elements in the equipment of the reactor well for the advanced Russian third-generation pressurized water reactors, model (VVER-1200), as its installation comes after the completion of the “dry protection installation” last August, to be one of the last installation steps in preparation for installing the reactor pressure vessel in its design position.
Professor of Energy Engineering at the American University in Cairo, Gamal Al-Qalioubi, explains the importance of installing the “bottom plate” and the following executive and technical steps. He tells Asharq Al-Awsat: “The installation of the bottom plate, which is scientifically called (the reactor core), is the beginning of the fifth phase in the Dabaa project, which will include very precise steps and operations to reach trial operation.”
Al-Qalioubi confirms that “the most prominent steps of the current fifth stage are connecting the mechanical parts of the power transformers, cold testing, industrial and nuclear safety tests, tests of alarm and extinguishing devices, complete installation of the upper mechanical part, operation on hot water, and trial operation, which is followed by the reactor entering the actual production stage.”
The “Nuclear Stations” confirmed in its statement, on Saturday, that the installation of the “bottom plate” reflects “commitment to the project schedule and to the highest standards of quality and safety,” explaining that “all work is carried out in accordance with the highest regulatory standards applied by the Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority through its inspectors residing at the nuclear station site.”
In late August, Egypt and Russia agreed to “expand the nuclear project” by building two additional units at the reactor in the Dabaa area.
The professor of energy engineering pointed out that the Egyptian-Russian agreement does not only include the transfer of nuclear technology, but also “the localization of the nuclear plant industry, and the training of Egyptian cadres of nuclear scientists and engineers on third-generation nuclear reactor technology, operation, maintenance, and safety parameters.”
