Morocco is courting international lenders, including the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the World Bank, to help fund a proposed $26 billion gas pipeline along the West African coast, Rabat’s top diplomat to the U.S. said.

The African Atlantic Gas Pipeline aims to link natural gas deposits in West African nations—including Nigeria, Senegal, and Mauritania—to the existing Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline connecting Morocco to Spain.

Moroccan Ambassador Youssef Amrani said Middle East energy supply disruptions linked to the conflict involving Iran have strengthened the rationale for the project, which would ferry African natural gas directly to European markets.

Speaking in an interview Wednesday in Washington, Amrani declined to provide specific financial details regarding ongoing funding discussions.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Exim Bank confirmed early-stage talks regarding the proposed development, while the World Bank declined to comment.

"This is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects under development today in Africa," Amrani said.

The project gained substantial regional momentum on July 19, when leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a 12-nation regional bloc, signed an intergovernmental agreement formally backing the 6,800-kilometer (4,230-mile) conduit.

Rabat is pushing to move the decade-old proposal into active development as European nations rush to diversify energy sources.

Escalating regional conflict in the Middle East has pushed European natural gas prices to their longest daily gain streak in eight years, raising fears over winter reserve levels.

The mega-project joins several large-scale energy initiatives across the continent, including Algeria’s planned Trans-Sahara gas pipeline, a planned crude refinery in Kenya backed by Nigerian investor Aliko Dangote, and major offshore gas developments in Mozambique.