Nigeria: Buhari to Inaugurate U.S.$2.8 Billion AKK Gas Project

President Muhammadu Buhari will tomorrow (Tuesday) officially inaugurate the construction of the first phase of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) project, a 614kilometre-long natural gas pipeline, being developed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

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.

The company has 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.

The presidential flag-off of the project, which is expected to boost domestic gas consumption, power generation and industrialisation, will take place in Ajaokuta (Kogi State) and Rigachikun (Kaduna State), simultaneously.

A build and transfer (BT) public-private partnership (PPP) model, the pipeline project will cost an estimated $2.8 billion and is expected to transport about 3,500 million metric standard cubic feet per day (Mmscfd) of gas from the southern part of the country.

The project will be executed in three phases, with phase one covering the construction of a 200km-long segment between Ajaokuta and Abuja terminal gas station and reduce the large volume of gas flared annually in the country.

With phase one covering the construction of a 200km-long segment between Ajaokuta and Abuja, costing $855 million, the second phase will comprise a 193km-long section to be built between Abuja and Kaduna at a cost of approximately $835 million and a third phase of a 221km-long section between the Kaduna and Kano terminal gas station at $1.2 billion.

This article was originally published by This Day. Photo: This Day.