The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPC) has revealed that the $2.8 billion Ajaokuta, Kaduna and Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2023.
This was disclosed by Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director, NNPC on Thursday during an inspection of the AKK gas project site at Abaji, Abuja along with some NNPC Board members, and some officials of Oilserv Ltd., among others, according to NAN.
AKK will transport gas through 614 kilometres pipeline from Ajaokuta through several states and urban centres in Nigeria and also will make up part of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) and the Trans Saharan gas pipeline project
What Kyari is saying
- He stated that AKK gas pipeline was a signature project for President Muhammadu Buhari, a great one to deliver to the country before the end of his tenure. He said the project is expected to boost development, progress, create jobs and power and also serve as gas supply link to other African countries and Europe upon completion.
- “We are very confident that by first quarter of 2023, we will put gas on these pipelines. This project will be delivered on schedule and timely, we are putting in place everything required to deliver the project.
- “We have missed some schedules but we are doing a catch up, we have put a number of interventions that are necessary, including deployment of additional resource required to deliver the project,” he said.
- Mr Emeka Okwuosa, Chairman, Oilserve Ltd., company in charge of the project Engineering, Procurement and Construction, said “This is one out of six sites we are working, this is one of the crews of automatic welding, relative to the entire pipeline scope that we are executing; we have done 120 kilometres welding and more than 80 per cent engineering and procurement.”
- Mr Steve Nnorom, Project Manager, Oilserv Ltd, (segment one AKK pipeline work) analysed the pipeline and station installation, showing progress as at April 11, 2022, stated that it was currently on Bravo, typically on welding.
- Under the Alpha segment, which comprised survey verification, stringing, bush clearing, field joint coating among others, he said it had surveyed cumulatively 214 kilometres, performed bush clearing, done one-third of mainland welding.
- At Bravo segment, he said it had deployed the latest technology of fully automatic and manual welding spread and achieved one-third of mainland pipeline and welding, adding that it would cover the entire location within the committed time from its pace.
- “We are doing all we can despite the challenges. The spread we are in now is less challenging.
- “Starting from Ajaokuta, we have rocky terrain, 3.2 kilometres of that section are all rocky terrains but we are fragmenting the rocks for back-end activities which we are planning.
- “In the upcoming months, we will start ditching, lowering and backfilling the pipelines. We are also placing orders for other mainland procurement items that will go on the mainline,” he said.
In case you missed it
Nairametrics reported last year that the $2.8 billion AKK gas pipeline hit financing bottlenecks as reports revealed expected financing from China had been delayed. The FG was seeking $1 billion to continue work on the pipeline, which it hoped to link with the Trans-Saharan pipeline from Kano connecting Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) when completed.