By Charles Ike-Okoh
THUR, JULY 02 2020-theG&BJournal- When the Federal Government flagged-off the construction of the $2.8 billion, 40 inch by 614km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas Pipeline Project (AKK), it marked the latest link in a chain of planned connection that will allow gas to be piped across south-north Nigeria.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its meeting on the 13th of December, 2017 gave approval to the project. Then, it seemed a widely overambitious project but the flag-off this week now makes it simply optimistic.
Oilserv-Oando PLC consortium, an indigenous consortium comprising of Oando Plc and OilServe Nigeria Limited, is working with the Federal Government on the AKK Pipeline Project, a collaboration that could finally seal Oando’s gas pipeline building credential and place it firmly as the leading player in the Nigeria gas market.
Tenders by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the project, was announced in 2013. Oilserv-Oando PLC consortium came in to play in April 2018 when it was awarded the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) mandate for segment 1, accounting for 40 inch by 303.4km linear pipeline system for the Ajaokuta to Kaduna portion of the AKK Pipeline Project.
Oando’s foray in the country’s gas sector has become legendary, its corporate history littered with many firsts and successes in the gas and power sector.
Group Chief Executive, Oando PLC, Jubril Adewale Tinubu illuminates the story; The Company was the first private sector player to enter gas distribution in Nigeria and pioneered gas distribution in the Greater Lagos area with the aim of spurring industrialization.
With over 280km in gas pipeline infrastructure built, the Company has also been able to provide unique energy solutions through its erstwhile subsidiaries: Gaslink Nigeria Limited whose gas pipeline network spans Ijora through Lagos Island’s Marina axis, the East Horizon Group Company which operates a natural gas transmission and distribution pipeline traversing Akwa Ibom and Cross River States and the Central Horizon Group Company, focused on the rehabilitation, operation and expansion of the existing natural gas distribution network in the Greater Port Harcourt City and Trans-Amadi area.
Other notable gas projects under the Company’s name include the development and management of the Alausa and Akute Independent Power Plants as well as a Compressed Natural Gas Plant that delivers CNG to industrial customers within a 250km radius of the Mother Station in Lagos.
‘Tinubu described them as ‘’all gas infrastructure projects that offer clean and affordable energy solutions, which equate to significant cost advantages for industries across the country.’’
‘’We have aspired to play an integral role in the building out of the National Gas Infrastructure and Pipeline Grid, as evidenced by our efforts in 2009, post the Nigerian Gas Master plan when we participated in the unrealized Calabar-Ajaokuta-Abuja-Kano (CAAK) line,’’ Tinubu said.
In 2019, through its upstream subsidiary, Oando Energy Resources, the company successfully signed a sweet heart deal for two Gas Supply Agreements (GSA) with the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (NLNG), for the renewal of gas supply for the existing Trains 1-3 for a term of 10 years and for gas supply for the impending Train 7 for a term of 20 years.
According to Tinubu, ‘’We are proud to be active participants in driving the country’s industrialization and actualization of the Gas Master Plan which will undoubtedly create employment opportunities and ultimately generate as well as enhance value for the nation.”
The AKK Pipeline Project which will originate from Ajaokuta in Kogi state, traversing Abuja, Niger, Kaduna states, finally terminating in Kano state is the largest gas pipeline project in Nigeria’s history. The project, expected to be completed within a 24-month timeline, is a 614km section of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) with the capacity to transport about 2.2billion cubic feet of gas per day. It will boost domestic utilization of natural gas for Nigeria’s social economic development when completed.
The project is expected to support the addition of 3,600 megawatts of power to the national grid and connect energy demand from the Northern part of Nigeria with supply from the South thereby enabling power-starved communities across the Northern region to have greater access to electricity. In addition, it will provide stranded commercial and industrial customers with a cleaner, more efficient source of self-generated energy.
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