At the same time I would like to emphasize that I am convinced that the Trans-Sahara gas pipeline could constitute a promising supply route and source for the EU. "(The) EU can guarantee security of demand. This is very clear," he said, adding that 85% of EU demand for natural gas would probably have to be covered by imports in 2030. The pipeline would run almost 4,300km from the volatile and violence-plagued Niger Delta to the Algerian coast, and is being planned as a joint venture between Algeria's Sonatrach and the Nigerian National Petroleum Co. The project is designed to allow Nigeria to export its huge natural gas reserves more easily to European markets. Algeria currently exports liquefied gas across the Mediterranean from ports in the east and west of the country and plans a pipeline to Sardinia in Italy. The three countries involved with the Trans-Sahara pipeline – Nigeria, Niger, and Algeria – have already had studies carried out which found the project both technically and economically feasible. The money could come from European governments and gas companies facing declining domestic supplies from areas like the North Sea and worried about an increasing reliance on gas from Russia. However, critics of the pipeline say it faces too many political – and other – risks to be viable.