Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline

The Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline ("MEG"; also known as the "Pedro Duran Farrel pipeline") is a 1,450 kilometer-long natural gas pipeline, which links the Hassi R'mel field in Algeria through Morocco with Cordoba in Andalusia, Spain, where it is connected with the Spanish and Portuguese gas grids. It supplies mainly Spain and Portugal, as well as Morocco with natural gas. The pipeline was commissioned on 8 November 1996. The annual capacity of the pipeline is 8.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas, and the total cost reached 2.3 billion USD. A plan to expand the capacity to 11.7 bcm per year is in progress.

MEG consists of five sections. The pipeline's Algerian, Moroccan and Andalusian sections are 48 inches in diameter; the link to Portugal through Extremadura is 7/8-inch in diameter; and the underwater sections consist of two convert|22|in|mm|sing=on lines.

The Algerian section of pipeline, 530 kilometers long, runs from the Hassi R'mel field in Algeria to the Moroccan border. It is owned and operated by the Algerian energy company, Sonatrach. The 540 kilometer-long Moroccan section is owned by the Moroccan State and operated by Metragaz, a joint venture of Sagane (a subsidiary of Spanish Natural Gas (SDG), Transgas (Portugal), and SNPP (Morocco). The length of the offshore section crossing the Strait of Gibraltar is 45 kilometers long; it is owned jointly by Enagás (Spain), Transgas, and the Moroccan state. The length of the Andalusian section is 275 kilometers, and the Portuguese section is 500 kilometers long (In addition, there are 270 kilometers of pipeline in the autonomous community of Extremadura.)

In 2000, the gas pipeline was named after Pedro Duran Farrel.

ee also

* Medgaz
* Trans-Mediterranean Pipeline
* GALSI
* NIGAL pipeline

External links

* [http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/tbl4c.html Select Transnational Gas/Oil Projects within Africa] , by the Energy Information Administration
* [http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/algeria.html Algeria Country Analysis Brief] , by the International Energy Agency
* [http://www.iea.org/textbase/work/2002/cross_border/MORALED.PDF How the Major Barriers to Cross-Border Gas Trade were Overcome in the Case of the Maghreb Pipeline] . presentation by Pedro Moraleda, Gas Natural SDG