AKK gas pipeline being built to increase gas export
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Abuja anticipates plans to increase gas export will bear fruit in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1 2023) when it expects to complete the $2.8 billion Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline that will link up with European markets through North Africa.
AKK will pump gas through 614 kilometres of pipeline from Ajaokuta across multiple states and urban centres to form part of the Trans Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) and Trans Sahara Gas Pipeline Project.
Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Group Managing Director Mele Kyari disclosed the anticipated completion timeline when he inspected the project in Abaji, Abuja, accompanied by NNPC board members and Oilserv officials.
Oilserve is the company in charge of the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPP) of the project.
Kyari said the AKK pipeline is a signature project President Muhammadu Buhari wants to deliver before the end of his tenure on 29 May 2023.
He enthused the project will facilitate development, progress, create jobs, boost power supply, and supply gas to other countries in Africa and Europe.
“We are very confident that by the first quarter of 2023, we will put gas in 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,” Kyari said.
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Engineering procurement at 80%
“This is one out of six sites we are working on, 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,” explained Oilserve Chairman Emeka Okwuosa, according to reporting by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), published by Nairametrics.
Oilserve Project Manager Steve Nnorom analysed the pipeline and station installation showing progress on segment one of the work. He said it was on Bravo, typically on welding as of 11 April.
According to him, Alpha segment – comprising survey verification, stringing, bush clearing, field joint coating, among others – has surveyed 214 kilometres, performed bush clearing, and done one-third of mainland welding.
He said Bravo segment deployed the latest technology of fully automatic and manual welding spread and achieved one-third of mainland pipeline and welding, and will cover the entire location within the time frame.
“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,” Nnorom added.
“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.”
Financing
The $2.8 billion AKK project hit a financing bottleneck last year when China delayed its loan and later stopped granting loan to Nigeria altogether.
Abuja is seeking additional $1 billion loan to complete the pipeline.
