Obateru: AKK Gas Project will boost domestic gas use

The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Kennie Obateru has assured that the construction of the 40-inch x 614km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline project will boost domestic utilisation of gas in Nigeria.

Dr. Obateru disclosed this in a press release on Monday, a day ahead of the flag-off.

The Federal Government’s aspiration to augment domestic gas utilisation will receive a boost tomorrow as President Muhammadu Buhari performs the flag-off.

The project, expected to be completed within a 24-month timeline, is a section of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) with capacity to transport about 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day.

Dr. Obateru explained that the Presidential Flag-off would be performed virtually from the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja

There will be a simultaneous link to two locations: Rigachukun, Kaduna State and Ajaokuta Steel Complex, in Kogi State.

He stated the economic benefits of the AKK pipeline which would originate from Ajaokuta, in Kogi State and traverse Abuja (FCT), Niger, Kaduna and terminate at Kano.

It said it would boost domestic utilization of natural gas for Nigeria’s social economic development, when completed.

It would also:

• unlock 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas to the domestic market,
• support the addition of 3,600 mega watts of power to the national grid and,
• revitalize textile industries which alone boasts of over 3 million jobs in parts of the country.

Obateru added that the AKK project would support the development of Petrochemicals, fertilizer, methanol and other gas-based industries.

It will thereby generate employment opportunities and facilitate Balanced Economic Growth.

He explained that the Right of Way for the proposed AKK gas pipeline would run parallel to the existing pipelines wherever possible.

Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company has 16 inch-crude oil and 12 inch- product pipelines.

Obateru said the pipeline would be fed from the existing domestic Infrastructure with a capacity of over 1.5 billion cubic feet per day.

It is being expanded by Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System II (ELPS II) and Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline (under construction) that will double the capacity to over 3 billion cubic gas per day.

It was conceptualized as an integral part of the Nigerian Gas Master Plan (NGMC), a gas infrastructure blueprint.

NGMC was approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2008.

The AKK has received serious attention of the Buhari Administration.

That led to the award of the Engineering Procurement and Construction Contract (EPC) of the project by the Federal Executive Council in 2017.

Within the last 12 months the project received extra fillip from the current NNPC leadership led by Mallam Mele Kyari.

That deftly removed the impediments that have stalled the project over the years leading to the flag-off ceremony tomorrow.

The AKK, Obateru said, is ultimately designed to complement other major domestic gas transmission systems namely:

• the Western System, that is, the existing 36-inch Escravos-Lagos Pipeline I and II with 2.2 billion cubic feet per day capacity and,
• the On-going East-West connection via the OB3 pipeline featuring 2.4 billion cubic feet per day capacity.