President Muhammadu Buhari will flag-off the construction of the$2.8billion Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline project tomorrow. The project will eventually break through tomorrow after seven years of rigorous processes that morphed from policy conception through implementation strategy designs, master-plans and solid implementation programmes.
When completed, the 614 kilometres pipeline will be Nigeria’s biggest domestic gas transmission infrastructure, Daily Trust reports. Conceived to provide stimulus to domestic industrial growth, the pipeline will be delivered by a consortium of indigenous and international engineering firms.
The Federal Government said the AKK “pipeline project is itself a section of an ambitious pipeline project to supply gas to Europe through the proposed Trans Sahara Gas Pipeline (TSGP) and Nigeria Morocco Gas Pipelines.” The project, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), will significantly curb gas flaring in the Niger Delta and guarantee better air quality in the oil producing region. Furthermore, the NNPC said the pipeline which was also conceived to connect demand from the northern part of the country with supply from the south would be the biggest infrastructure development in the country’s recent history.
It will also mark a significant shift in the nation’s energy policy; from revenue targeted export programmes to development focused domestic supply programmes, according to the country’s oil company. Perhaps the biggest value to the economy is the participation of indigenous engineering firms led by pipeline giant, Oilserv Limited, in the delivery of some of the phases of the project. Commenting on the project yesterday, the Group Chairman, Oilserv Limited, Engr. Emeka Okwuosa, said his company was honoured to be part of the historic AKK project.
He said the project would turn to reality some of the nation’s long term economic aspirations of boosting domestic energy infrastructure, deepening the local gas market, creating industrial corridors with cleaner fuel, as well as commercializing the country’s abundant gas resources.
He said the company had successfully delivered over 17 similar challenging projects in the country including the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the 67 kilometre Obiafu/Obrikom to Oben (OB3) 48 inch diameter Gas Transmission Pipeline System. The Oilserv consortium is slated to deliver the first 200 kilometre phase of the AKK pipeline which covers the section between Ajaokuta and Abuja, after securing the EPC contract in April 2018.
