 The idea of the trans-Saharan pipeline was first proposed in the 1970s.On 14 January 2002, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Algerian national oil and gas company Sonatrach signed the Memorandum of Understanding for preparations of the project.In June 2005, NNPC and Sonatrach signed a contract with Penspen Limited for a feasibility study of the project.