Africa's Midstream Sector Ramps Up to Meet New Demand

Written by Paul Wiseman for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

 Summary

Africa gas and oil producers are building out pipeline infrastructure, mostly to export product to Europe in response to global supply issues.

Getting Stranded Resources to Market

In this time wherein everybody wants to rule the (energy) world, Africa's top producers in that category are investing in their own production and infrastructure. For related information, see August 19, 2026, article - Africa Nations Invest Billions in Oil/Gas Production, Infrastructure, for Energy Security and September 1, 2026, article - LNG Leads Capex Growth in African Energy Expansion 2026-30. We now look at the continent's investment in pipelines designed to get both crude and natural gas to export markets.

Industrial Info Resources is tracking 191 active capital oil and gas-related pipeline projects in Africa, with a total investment value of US$62 billion. These include pipelines for crude oil and gas as well as those for refined products. Natural gas pipelines dominate with 105 projects worth $US47.6 billion. Much of the investment focuses on natural gas trunklines, planned to deliver previously stranded gas in west and north Africa, along with crude pipelines delivering production from the East African Rift. The Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Pipeline Project Database offers a list of detailed project reports.

On that list are the Nigeria-Morocco (Africa Atlantic) and the Abuja-Libya Grassroot natural gas pipelines. The pipelines could ultimately cost as much as US$25 billion, with a total length of 6,300 kilometers and transversing 13 West Africa countries by an offshore/onshore route.

Regarding actual completion schedules, things are less certain. The project's already drawn-out history would indicate that any actual agreement is uncertain. Morocco's government has indeed completed front end engineering design (FEED) studies, so movement is possible.

Competing with that one will be the Trans Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP), for which Algeria, Niger and Nigeria have signed fresh agreements covering an upgraded feasibility study and compensation framework. While this US$13 billion project will compete with Nigeria-Morocco, the Strait of Hormuz blockade, along with a European ban on importing Russian gas, could make both pipelines profitable.

For liquids, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is the closest to being operational, and is the model for how to execute international execution. It actually has a completion date in the near future. With an investment value of nearly US$3.5 billion, the pipeline is about 90% completed, and is expected to begin exporting oil in early 2027. The 1,443-kilometer, 24-inch heated and buried line, majority-owned by TotalEnergies with UNOC, TPDC, and CNOOC, will deliver oil from Uganda's Lake Albert fields to the Tanga marine terminal in Tanzania.

Europe Looks to African Gas

While blockades of the Strait of Hormuz are certainly on everyone's supply-chain consciousness, a significant impetus has been the EU's January decision to begin weaning itself off Russian gas.

Referred to as a "stepwise" ban, it gradually reduces imports of Russian gas, with the total ban being effective January 1, 2027.

As a result, Algerian, Nigerian and emerging West African molecules are being courted aggressively by buyers in Italy, Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands. This is giving midstream project sponsors to accelerate FEED, getting traction on financing and intergovernmental agreements that had drifted for years.

Nigeria-Morocco and Trans-Saharan, assuming completion, would be a significant start in delivering those molecules.

By the Numbers

• $62.1 billion: TIV of African pipeline projects tracked by Industrial Info Resources
• 191: Total number of projects tracked

 Key Takeaways

• Both Strait of Hormuz blockades and a progressing ban on Russian natural gas imports have made Europe and Africa good neighbors on energy.
• Africa is building both natural gas and crude pipelines toward European markets at increasing speed.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, Industrial Info Resources is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 Trillion (USD).