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AKK gas pipeline

Contractor vows to surmount challenges on AKK gas project

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Gwagwalada (Abuja), Oct. 14, 2023: Oilserv Limited, Pipelines and Facilities (EPCIC), the contractor handling the $2.5 billion Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Natural Gas Pipeline Project says it will surmount every challenge to ensure it delivers the project in July 2024.

Chairman of the company, Mr Emeka Okwuosa, gave the assurance on Thursday during an inspection of the project sites in Pai community, situated between Gwagwalada and Kwali area councils, Abuja.

The inspection was led by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekperikpe Ekpo.

The minister was on an inspection with some top officials of NNPC Ltd. and Oilserv to see the progress of work at the Pai River crossing session in the area.

Oilserv is handling the segment A of the AKK pipeline of about 614km-long natural gas pipeline being developed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) to run from Ajaokuta, through Abuja-Kaduna to Kano.

Okwuosa, who was optimistic of the timely delivery, said the Linear section which would carry the gas, was about 80 per cent completed, while the overall completion of the entire project had reached 55 per cent.

He listed river crossing, rock blasting, drilling, security and construction on right of way, as some of the challenges, noting that it would continue to work closely with the NNPC Ltd. to ensure timely delivery.

“We have given commitment to the minister that the project will be completed by July 2024; we are working very hard irrespective of the challenges; challenges will always exist but Oilserv has repeatedly built gas pipelines for the nation.

“The AKK pipeline will make a lot of difference because gas is energy and energy is wealth, and Nigeria has it in abundance but we have to have delivery systems to get the gas to where it is required for commercialisation.

“That is what we are doing here, and we assure Nigerians that it will be completed as stated,” he said.

The chairman, who described the project as an economic prosperity venture and a priority project of the Group Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Ltd., said it was a segment of the Nigerian gas master plan meant to distribute gas across Nigeria and provide energy.

“After completion, we would be able to have gas and NNPC would be able to deliver gas to the Northern part of Nigeria and also spur development of gas in the southern part of Nigeria and create a lot of wealth as well in the south.

“With gas available, you have power, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for vehicles to run with, and reduce dependency on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), build urea and fertiliser plants, helping agriculture and so on.

“This project will change the landscape of energy delivery, and the economy of Nigeria will change,” he added.

Okwuosa, while commending the Federal Government and NNPC Ltd for their support, lauded the minister for his commitment towards the project completion, adding that the development of gas as a source of energy in Nigeria was unequalled.

“I can assure you that whatever we are doing will not be possible without the support of NNPC and we are always in sync, and they support and raise the funds to keep the project ongoing.

“Our commitment is more than 100 per cent. Though we have challenges, our job is to deal with the challenges and make sure the project is completed as scheduled,” Okwuosa said.

Mr Chigozie Obi, Group Chief Technical Officer, Oilserv, also briefed the officials on the schematic of the AKK pipeline and station installation.

He explained the progress of the project which comprised three spreads of Alpha, Brovo and Charlie with the level attained.

The minister was accompanied by Mr Farouk Ahmed, Authority Chief Executive, Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority; Mr Olalekan Ogunleye, Executive Vice President, Gas, Power and New Energy, NNPC Ltd and other top officials of Oilserv Limited, among others.

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Minister inspects AKK gas pipeline project, tasks contractor on completion

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Gwagwalada (Abuja), Oct. 13, 2023: The Federal Government has directed the contractor handling the Ajaokuta Kaduna Kano (AKK) Natural Gas Pipeline Project to ensure completion and deliver the project on time.

Mr Ekperikpe Ekpo, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), gave the charge on Thursday while inspecting the AKK project sites in PAI community, situated between Gwagwalada and Kwali Area Councils of Abuja.

Ekpo inspected the progress of Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) of the PAI River Crossing being executed by Oilserv Limited, one of the three major River Crossing work which advanced in stage and approaching the final stage of completion.

The AKK pipeline is a 614km-long natural gas pipeline being developed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) to run from Ajaokuta, through Abuja-Kaduna to Kano.

Ekpo was accompanied in the visit by Mr Farouk Ahmed, Authority Chief Executive, Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, top officials of the NNPC Ltd and the project contractor, Oilserv Limited, Pipelines and Facilities (EPCIC), among others.

The Minister said with more than 200 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) of proven gas reserves and unproven reserves amounting to 600 TCF in the deep sea and other areas in the country the AKK project was critical to be delivered on schedule.

“So far; I am impressed with what has been done, and the contractor has assured me that by July and August 2024 the project will be completed.

“And when completed, many ailing industries will come to limelight;  there will be efficient power supply; availability of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for vehicles, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for cooking, eradicating biomass (charcoal) while industries would equally come up.

“Today the global world is talking about gas and we have it in abundance, the reserve is enough to take us for next hundred years and service other nations. Nigeria should actually be the hub of gas resources.

“The prosperity of Nigeria depends on this very project. When completed, power plants in Abuja, Kaduna and Kano will be put into use guaranteeing energy security in long term with boost in investment.

“So we hold the contractor responsible for any slow rate of development. You are given the job on trust and there are bound to be challenges. The way you have been surmounting challenges in other locations, apply it here, we will support you to complete it on schedule,” Ekpo said.

While appreciating NNPC Ltd and management on its efforts, Ekpo assured Nigerians to be patient with President Bola Tinubu, adding that the government was doing everything possible to mitigate hardship.

The Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Ltd, Malam Mele Kyari, said reiterated its commitment towards the delivery of strategic national infrastructure projects through responsive project delivery, active collaboration with security agencies and communities.

Kyari, represented by Mr Olalekan Ogunleye, Executive Vice President, Gas, Power and New Energy, NNPC Ltd, said it was focused on technology deployment in form of Human and Technical Intelligence for surveillance along the entire Right of Way to realise timely delivery of the project for the benefit of Nigerians.

He described the project as a major economic trigger of the nation assuring that the NNPC Ltd would continue to take right steps to ensure that facilities and resources required were deployed for its realisation.

Also speaking, Oilserv Chairman, Mr Emeka Okwuosa, gave assurance that the project would be completed between July and August 2024.

He said the site visited was peculiar because of its river crossing, adding that it would also deployed Direct Pipe Installation Technology to cross River Niger.

Okwuosa said the company was working hard to mitigate challenges to enable it to deliver the project.

He listed the challenges as river crossing, rock blasting, drilling and security, stressing that it  would continue to work closely with the NNPC Ltd to ensure timely delivery of the project.

“We are also working with the NNPC Ltd to see how we can do night operations here to hasten the project by doubling the speed but we are only limited with day time operations.

“Some pipes are existing in the right of way example crude oil line to Kaduna refinery so we are careful not to damage anything. We are optimistic that by next year the linear section that will deliver gas will be done with,” he said.

The 2.5 billion dollars AKK Gas Pipeline and Stations Project is a flagship of the Phase -1 Trans Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) project.

It is designed to integrate the northern part of Nigeria with the Niger Delta, eastern and western regions of the country.

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NNPCL spends $1bn on AKK gas pipeline project – Kyari

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) says it has so far spent over 1.1 billion dollars on the ongoing construction of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline and Station project from its cash-flow.

The NNPC Limited GCEO, Malam Mele Kyari said this on Monday while touring some of its project sites in Kogi, with newsmen and other stakeholders.

Kyari was accompanied by some top officials of the NNPC Limited and Oilserv Limited, (Pipelines and Facilities), the contractor of the project.

Kyari said the company would continue to fund the massive project which it was delivering in phases and has been active even though it did not have third party finance for the project.

“So far, NNPC Ltd has funded over 1.1billion dollars on the project and to date none of the project activities are abandoned as reported and we reassure all stakeholders that we have a line of sight to project delivery on schedule.

“NNPC Limited remains highly committed towards the delivery of strategic National infrastructure projects through responsive project delivery, active collaboration with government security agencies and communities as well as deployment of technology for delivering the project.

“This is one of the most massive projects of proportion value to our country for economic growth. It is a must-deliver project and we have continued to fund in spite of not having third party finance support, we will deliver this project.

“We do not owe a dollar to our contractors, there are over 30 sites that are active today in this project, we are very hopeful and optimistic to deliver this project,” he assured.

The GCEO decried the fact that due to insecurity, it had lost some site workers thereby expressed sadness over their demise and consoled their families whom he said the company shared in their grief.

He said 70 percent of the welding work had been completed adding that once welding was completed, it could actually flow gas through the pipeline.

He said on completion the pipeline would deliver two billion cubic feet of gas, powering industries, powering power plants and creating gas based industries.

He said the entire welding work would be completed by the third quarter of 2023 then it would actually energise the pipeline.

Kyari further said that the gas pipeline was projected to support power plants with a total of 3,645 Mega Watts, adding that it would soon begin construction of Abuja- Kaduna power plants in earnest.

Earlier, Mr Steve Nnorom, Project Manager, Oilserv Ltd explained that there were three schematic of the pipeline and station installations which included Brovo, Chalie and Alpha spread segment, that showed progress of the project.

He said they were currently doing full auto welding, completed 73 per cent of its mainland welding works and had done 222 kilo metres remaining 27 kilo metres of welding work to complete.

“We are crossing rivers, railway, existing pipelines. We have other sites where various work activities are ongoing, our target is that concurrently all works will be going on at different spread,” he said

Nnorom, while noting that the project has been active and fully financed said that it has purely 100 per cent Nigerian workers.

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AKK Gas Pipeline Project to ensure security in sector

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd  says it embarked on the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Project to ensure energy security in the country.

Its Executive Vice President, Business Services, Mr Danladi Inuwa, said this in Abuja on Thursday at a two-day Sensitisation and Awareness Workshop on the Current Status of NNPC Ltd.

The workshop was organised by the NNPC Ltd, in collaboration with Tedran Consulting, with its theme “Understanding our National Oil Company (NNPC Ltd) Post Petroleum Industry Act”

Inuwa said the workshop, was aimed at enlightening Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the general public on the activities of the corporation, in line with its mandate.

According to him, NNPC Ltd was focusing on monetising  gas, and that this had given rise to some of the key projects the company had embarked upon.

“The AKK Gas Pipeline Project is going to transmit gas from Ajaokuta to Kaduna and Kano, with associated power plant going on across the country.

“The company is carrying out numerous programmes in terms of gas to power, gas to industries and of course the Petroleum product supply. “

” Part of these three key areas are being focused on, to ensure we deliver on energy security for the country, he added.

In his remarks, Mr Olalekan Edwards, the President General of a group, known as “The Natives’’ said the workshop would help in educating relevant stakeholders, to understand what NNPC. Ltd was doing.

Edwards added that it would also expose the saboteurs amongst them, as well as change the narratives, from being protesters, to being participants in their own affairs.

Also, Mr Peter Okoye, Partner, Tedran Consulting said the workshop was aimed at creating awareness on the new NNPC Ltd, its structure and operations.

“ It is good for us to have a forum where we can interact with the CSOs, to let them understand what the new NNPC Ltd is all about.

“And how these changes are going to affect the oil industry in Nigeria,’’ he said.

The Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) pipeline is a 614km-long pipeline, being developed by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to transport natural gas from southern Nigeria to central Nigeria.

The £2.2 billion ($2.8 billion) pipeline project, represents phase one of the 1,300km-long Trans-Nigerian Gas Pipeline (TNGP) project, which is being developed as part of Nigeria’s Gas Master Plan, to utilise the country’s surplus gas resources for power generation as well as for consumption by domestic customers.

The TNGP project also forms part of the proposed 4,401km-long Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP) to export natural gas to customers in Europe. Nigeria holds Africa’s biggest and one of the world’s biggest gas reserves.

It’s proved natural gas reserves stand at 188 trillion cubic feet (tcf) comprising 99tcf of associated gas and 89tcf of non-associated gas.

The AKK pipeline is planned to be developed on a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis, under Public-Private Partnership (PPP), supervised by Nigeria’s Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).

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AKK to stimulate gas infrastructural development in Nigeria

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The Oilserv Ltd., Contractor handling the ongoing Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project, says the project will stimulate gas infrastructural development and industrialisation in Nigeria.

Mr Emeka Okwuosa, Chairman, Oilserv Ltd., said on Tuesdayin Abuja that the project spans a length of 614km.

It is being developed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPC Ltd.) to transport natural gas from Ajaokuta, Kogi through other states and urban centres in Nigeria.

The project which began in 2020 and to be completed by the first quarter of 2023 is a segment of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) and the Trans Saharan gas pipeline project.

AKK gas project, when completed would boost the agricultural and manufacturing sectors, carbon footprint as part of measures to cut down on global warming and provide gas for generation of power and gas-based industries.

He said that the project aimed at transporting natural gas (raw form) which would enable production of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) among others.

“The project is important to Nigeria because gas is what will help Nigeria to develop.

“Development cannot happen without energy and our greatest form of energy in terms of availability is gas.

“Gas is nothing without transportation you have to send it to where you need it and that’s what we are doing to boost development in the country,” he said.

According to the contractor, the ongoing AKK gas pipeline is a good target to European markets in view of exploring opportunities of gas exportation.

“You can see what is happening in Europe because of Russian gas, everybody is scampering, but we have it,” he added.

Europe, the single-largest buyer of Russian energy, is weighing the likelihood of gas-supply disruptions as the war with Ukraine continues.

As a result of activities around the AKK project, the country will see over eight billion standard cubic feet (scf) of gas injected into the domestic pipeline.

The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Malam Mele Kyari, in the company of the NNPC board members recently inspected the segment “A” site of the project in Abaji Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

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AKK gas pipeline project to be completed early 2023

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPC) says the ongoing Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project will be completed by the first quarter of 2023.

Malam Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director, NNPC said this on Thursday while inspecting the AKK gas project site at Abaji, Abuja along with some NNPC Board members, top officials and other dignitaries.

Some of them are, the NNPC Board Chairman, Sen. Margery Okadigbo; Group Executive Director (GED), Finance and Accounts, Mr Umar Ajiya; GED, Upstream, Mr Adokiye Tombomieye.

Officials of  Oilserv Ltd., among others, were also present.

The project which spans a length of 614 kilometres is a natural gas pipeline being developed by the NNPC to transport gas from Ajaokuta through several states and urban centres in Nigeria.

The project, the construction of which began in 2020 and estimated at 2.8 billion dollars, is a segment of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) and the Trans Saharan gas pipeline project

Kyari, during the inspection, said the 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 that more importantly, it would bring major development, progress, creative jobs and stabilised power as well as revamp industries across the country.

Kari said this was because it would de-bottleneck gas supply network in the entire country.

According to him, it will 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.

The NNPC boss, while commending the contractor on its effort, said it should speed up the project because the whole world was in need of gas.

According to the GMD, it is a market opportunity for Nigeria, being the highest gas reserve country in Africa.

Also speaking, Okadigbo, said she was impressed with the progress made on the project and expressed optimism that it would be completed in good time.

Mr Emeka Okwuosa, Chairman, Oilserve Ltd., company in charge of the project Engineering, Procurement and Construction, said with prompt intervention of the NNPC management, it had redoubled effort and added more capacity to meet deadline.

“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,” he said.

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.

Nnorom explained that it structured the work by splitting the spread into three segments, namely, Alpha, Bravo and Charlie for construction oversight.

He said 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 latest technology of full automatic and manual welding spread and achieved one third of mainland pipeline and welding, adding that it would cover the entire location within 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 back filling the pipelines. We are also placing order for other mainland procurement items that will go on the mainline,” he said.

Speaking on infrastructure interference, he said the company was mindful of that, as power lines along its right of way were slowing down the progress of the project.

“We have human active environment whereby we cross people’s buildings, markets not destroyed yet but we are working in conjunction with the owners who have issued the right of way for complete compensations to avoid interruption,” he said.

Upon completion, AKK gas project would boost the agricultural and manufacturing sectors, and reduce the nation’s carbon footprint as part of measures to cut down on global warming.

It will also provide gas for generation of power and for gas-based industries.

This will facilitate the development of new industries and also the revival of moribund one along transit towns in Kogi, Abuja, Niger, Kaduna and Kano states.

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AKK project will enhance gas utilization for industrialisation- Buhari

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President Muhammadu Buhari says successful completion of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano, AKK Project in 2023 would enhance domestic gas utilisation as the mainstay for national industrialisation.
Buhari stated this at the opening ceremony of the 2021 Gas Sector Stakeholders (AKK) Forum organised by the Gas Aggregation Company Nigeria (GACN) on Thursday in Kano.
He was represented by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva.
“Today’s event reinforces our commitments to realizing the inherent potentials of gas usage as a national catalyst for achieving economic diversification from crude oil and as transition period to the renewable energy,” he said.
He revealed that the project would also increase government revenue and create more jobs opportunities for the unemployed Nigerians.
The President said that many companies had been shut down due to power supply problem across the country.
He explained that it would take two to three years to reactivate those industries to their optimal performance.
Buhari also said that the Federal Government has reduced the price of gas from 2 dollars 50 cents to 2 dollars 18 Cents.
“Let me use this medium to announce that following successful negotiations between Federal Government of Nigeria and organized unions, the price of gas has been reduced from $2.50 Cents to $2.18 Cents, with immediate effects,” he said.
He said that all the relevant stakeholders had been communicated on the issue.
Also speaking, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari, said that the AKK project had been on the drawing board for the past 30 years.
Kyari said when completed, it would provide enough gas for both domestic and export purposes.
“Nigeria has huge gas resources, gas means prosperity and delivering gas is an opportunity creation,” he said.
He pointed out that the project would revive about 232 industries along AKK corridor.
In his remarks, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado-Bayero, commended the Federal Government for the project, which he said, would also assist to enhance socioeconomic activities in the state.
He said that using gas for domestic purposes would assist to create more job opportunities, reduce deforestation and enhance livelihood of people.
Ado-Bayero called on Nigerians to continue to pray for leaders to enable them continue to execute development projects.

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AKK Gas project will revive ailing industries, create jobs – Ganduje

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Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has said that the Ajaokuta, Kaduna, Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline project would have huge economic impact and create jobs in the state.

This is contained in a statement issued by Director-General, Media and Public Relations to the governor, Ameen Yassar, in Kano.

According to the statement, Ganduje made the remark in Kano while receiving the Managing Director, Gas Aggregation Company Nigeria Ltd., Mr Lekan Ogunleye, at the Government House, Kano.

“I was personally elated when Mr President announced approval for implementation of the project. With sustained gas supply to Kano, all our dead industries will be revived and more jobs will be created.

“President Muhammadu Buhari in June, 2020 flagged off the $2.8 billion 614Km pipeline project, with capacity to transport 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas daily. It is expected to enhance domestic natural gas utilization for the country’s economic development.

“With industrial clusters at Bompai, Sharada, Challawa 1 and 2, Tokarawa and Tamburawa, the gas project will fast track industrialisation in Kano, which is currently Nigeria’s most populous state,” Ganduje explained.

He said the state is presently the market for states in Northern Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger republic, expressing optimism that the project would conveniently consolidate the state’s position as Nigeria’s historic commercial nerve centre.

According to the governor, the project will be augmented by recently approved Ibadan-Kano-Maradi and the Kano–Dutse rail line project as well as the reconstruction of Kano- Kaduna-Abuja road, which is in progress.

He said that the projects mean a lot for the people of the area considering its economic impact.

Earlier, Ogunleye said the visit was to present to the governor, the plan for the proposed gas sector stakeholders forum, to be hosted by Kano in July, as well as to give update on the progress of the AKK Project so far.

He pointed out that the proposed forum would be structured in such a way that every stakeholder would be carried along.

Ogunleye lauded Kano state government for being the only state with a multifunctional committee comprising government and private sector representatives, to assist in the project delivery.