NNPC AKK gas pipeline project to be completed Q1 2023- Kyari

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.

Group Managing Director of NNPC, Malam Mele Kyari, 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.

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 construction 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 the project would bring major development, progress, creative jobs and stabilised power as well as revamp industries across the country.

Kyari 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,” 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.

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 ones along transit towns in Kogi, Abuja, Niger, Kaduna and Kano states.

NAN