The heads of state of members of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, signed an intergovernmental agreement backing the $25 billion African Atlantic Gas Pipeline, or AAGP, according to a July 19 joint statement from Morocco's state-owned National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines, or ONHYM, and Nigeria's state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Co., or NNPC. The joint statement said the signing of the agreement marked the start of a new phase for the project that will see the creation of the AAGP's governing bodies, adding that the next steps included signing a similar agreement with Mauritania.