The Federal Government has disclosed that it is looking at covering the Trans-Saharan and European markets with the ongoing construction of the Ajaokuta, Kaduna, Kano Gas Pipeline, popularly known as AKK Gas Pipeline.
The $2.8 billion project which is the biggest single gas project in Nigeria is expected to boost domestic gas consumption, power generation and industrialization.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), this was made known by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, at a forum organized by the media outfit.
He said that the gas pipeline would be one of the legacy projects of President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
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What the Minister of State for Petroleum is saying about the gas project
Sylva said, “The plan is if we can get it to Kano, then it can continue all the way to Algeria at the Trans-Saharan gas pipeline and then link up with the Algerian pipeline and then we move it to Europe. So, our gas can move all the way from the South to the European market. So, it is a very important piece of infrastructure and the president is very committed to it and it is very much on track.”
The Minister pointed out that when completed, the gas pipeline would also serve as a development backbone along the Southern-Northern corridors of the country.
He said, “AKK gas pipeline is good for producers and the market because we have a lot of situations where gas is capped in the South and not produced because there is no market. But what we want to do now is to bring the gas across Nigeria, so that when you are now moving gas from South to North, all the people along that corridor can key into that pipeline.
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“What that means is that people will have access to gas anywhere in Nigeria. It will also enable Nigerians to invest in a gas-based industry anywhere in Nigeria.
“This is also good for the producer because he now has incentives to produce more. Before now, the gas in the South was capped but with this backbone, anybody can produce and link up with the AKK pipeline,” Sylva said.
He said the construction of the AKK Gas Pipeline will eliminate gas flaring completely in the country as it will absorb the remaining 8% currently being flared, noting that about 92% of the gas flares had been taken down.
Sylva revealed that gas flaring is no longer the major problem of the communities as all the gas that goes into the NLNG and the power plants, were previously flared, adding that they also use some of the gas to spike the crude oil.
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Going further he said, “Gas flaring is no longer a problem in the Niger Delta, eight per cent of gas being flared cannot be the problem. If I don’t know what to do with my gas that is when I flare, but if I can monetise my gas, why should I burn it when I can make money out of it.
“In fact, it is in my interest not to burn my gas because it now has value. The problem with gas before was that it has no value because nobody was buying it. But now, if I can monetise it, I will be guarding it so that I can get some benefits from it.’’
What you should know
- It can be recalled that in June 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari flagged off the construction of the $2.8 billion 614km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) natural gas pipeline, the single biggest gas pipeline project in Nigeria’s history, in Ajaokuta (Kogi State) and Rigachikun (Kaduna State).
- The project, which took off after months of discussions in and out of the country, is expected to carry gas between the southern and northern parts of the country and will eventually extend to North Africa.
- The 614 kilometres-long natural gas pipeline of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) project, is to be done on a build-and-transfer Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis. It will transport 3,500 million metric standard cubic feet per day of dehydrated gas from several gas gathering projects located in southern Nigeria.
