$2.8bn AKK Gas Project Will Boost Growth, Revive Many Moribund Industries – NNPC GMD

The Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas Pipeline project when completed will boost growth and revive  some moribund industries .

The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari, said this during an exclusive interview with THE WHISTLER.

The construction work on the 40-inch x 614km AKK Gas Pipeline project, which was conceptualized as an integral part of the Nigerian Gas Master Plan and approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2008,  was flagged off by President Muhammadu Buhari on June 30.

Speaking on the key advantages the project will bring after completion, he said it would enable the country to have a trans-Nigerian pipeline in place.

This, he stated,  would lead to increased supply of gas into the network such that consumers in the East and in the West and in the West African sub-region and across the transnational pipeline into the North of the country would  be energized.

Kyari  said the end result would be more industrial growth, more creation of jobs, while power would  be delivered to many moribund industries.

When these happen, he said,  the project would ultimately bring in the required development that the country needed to have from its gas resources.

The NNPC boss said, “This is the year of gas. It means that we will focus on gas, to deliver gas into the domestic market.

“The OB3  and the expansion of the Lagos Escravos Pipeline System 2, so that it can extend all the way to West Africa and potentially to Morocco at the end of the tunnel, and the combination of this with the delivery of the AKK –we will have a trans-Nigerian pipeline in place, and this will enable increased supply of gas into the network such that consumers in the East and in the West and in the West African sub-region and across the transnational pipeline into the North of the country will be energized.

“And the end result will be more industrial growth, more jobs will be created, power will be delivered to many moribund industries and, ultimately, it will bring in the required development that our country needs to have from our gas resources. 

“We have never paid this much attention to it and getting this done within the calendar period that we have put out  by ourselves, a maximum of 36 months and minimum of 34 months; and once this is delivered you will see the expansion in capacity.”