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, Nigeria and have signed a memorandum of understanding to build a natural gas pipeline across the Sahara desert, Algeria's energy minister said on Thursday.

The three countries had in June agreed to revive the decades-old talks over the project, a potential opportunity for Europe to diversify its sources.

The pipeline is expected to span 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles), according to Algeria's Ennahar TV.

The Trans-Saharan pipeline is an estimated $13 billion project that could send up to 30 billion cubic metres a year of supplies to Europe.

The idea was first proposed more than 40 years ago and an agreement signed between the countries in 2009, but progress stalled.

(Reuters)