AKK Gas pipeline project to be ready in Q1 2025 – NNPC

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) on Friday said the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Project will be delivered by the first quarter of 2025.

Olufemi Soneye, the chief corporate communications officer of NNPC Ltd, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

Mr Soneye said the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari disclosed this during the visit of three cabinet ministers to the project site where they inspected the River Kaduna crossing milestone of the project in Kaduna, on Friday.

“Without promising too much, we assure you that this Project will be delivered on schedule. Our mission is to work towards delivering it by December this year. But we are confident this project will be delivered by the first quarter of 2025,” Mr Kyari said.

He explained that the NNPC Ltd recognises the strategic importance and enormous value of the project to Nigeria’s economy, noting that the company was bankrolling the project on the back of its own balance sheet.

The three ministers who visited the project site, according to the statement, were Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; Minister of Information & National Orientation, Mohammed Idris and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo.

NNPC Ltd said the AKK gas pipeline and stations project is a flagship project that will deepen the integration of the northern region of the country with the Niger Delta and other parts of the country.

The pipeline can transport two billion standard cubic feet of natural gas per day to three proposed independent power plants in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, and other gas-based industries as well as other identified and proposed commercial off-takers along the entire pipeline route.

Since the flag-off of the project by Mr Buhari in June 2020, the NNPC Ltd said it has recorded significant feats and the project is well on course to deliver on schedule.

In April 2023, the NNPC Ltd said the project had reached almost 70 per cent completion.

Speaking at the project site on Friday, according to the statement, Mr Edun described the AKK gas pipeline as the pipeline of prosperity, which is very dear to the president, because it will deliver the critical infrastructure needed to trigger the nation’s economic growth and industrialisation.

“The AKK gas pipeline is crucial for this administration and its delivery is in line with Mr president’s strategy of bringing prosperity to the people,” Mr Edun said.

Also speaking, Mr Ekpo said the gas pipeline is part of the federal government’s many efforts to harness the nation’s abundant gas resources towards improving power generation, revamping ailing industries, and creating employment opportunities in the country.

He urged all stakeholders to support the NNPC Ltd towards delivering the project and several other gas projects as the country depends on it to bring prosperity to the people.

In his remarks, Mr Idris said the AKK gas Pipeline project is a testimony to the fact that the federal government’s “Decade of Gas” has commenced in earnest.

“Nigerians should be proud of the AKK gas pipeline project. With the delivery of this project, the prosperity that Mr president is always talking about is unraveling right here before our eyes,” he said.

The Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, represented by his deputy, Hadiza Balarabe, said the completion of the AKK gas pipeline will herald the much-needed economic and industrial revival in the state.

“If you know about the Kakuri Industrial Area and how most of our factories there have become moribund, you will understand why we in Kaduna state are all excited about the AKK gas pipeline.

“Without doubt, the pipeline will revamp our industries and bring about a huge impact on our people. We can’t wait for it to be completed.”

 

June 22, 2024