The head of Nigeria’s oil corporation, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari has revealed that Nigeria’s 614 km (384 miles) gas pipeline that is under construction will start operating during the first quarter of next year, which would help boost electricity supply.
The NNPC boss made the revelation on Thursday while speaking at a site the pipeline passes through in Abuja.
Kyari also said the construction was one of the major projects pursued by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, who has pushed for infrastructure development since coming into power in 2015.
Developed by NNPC, the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project entails the construction of a 614km-long natural gas pipeline from the Ajaokuta terminal gas station (TGS) in the Kogi state in the southern region of Nigeria, through the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Niger, and Kaduna, to terminate at a gas station in Kano.
“We will put gas on this line before the President leaves … by the first quarter of 2023 we will put gas on this line. Power will be stabilized, industries will come up as a result of this project,” Kyari told reporters.
The project is estimated at US$ 2.8bn, and is being implemented in three phases, under a build and transfer (BT) public-private partnership (PPP) model, which involves the contractor providing 100% of the financing.
Nigeria is Africa’s top exporter of crude oil and holds some of the world’s largest known reserves of gas, but has struggled to attract investment into the sector.