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The construction of the over $2.8 billion Ajaokuta – Kaduna – Kano gas pipeline, expected to supply gas to the proposed 1,000 megawatts Abuja power plants and other users, is expected to take off any moment from now.
This is because the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has signed agreement with two consortia for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC), and commissioning of the project under a 100 percent contractor financing model for Lots 1&3 of the 40inch x 614km project.
One of the consortia is a mixture of indigenous and foreign contractors. Under the terms of contract, Lot 1 with total length of 40inch x 200km stretching from Ajaokuta to Abuja Terminal Gas Station was awarded to the OilServe/Oando Consortium. While Lot 3 that runs from Kaduna Terminal Gas Station (TGS) to Kano TGS with total length of 40inch x 221km was awarded to the Brentex/China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau (CPP) Consortium.
It is envisaged that contract agreement for Lot 2, which covers 40inch x 193km stretching from Abuja to Kaduna, will be executed in the weeks ahead.
Under the terms of contract, Lot 1 with total length of 40inch x 200km stretching from Ajaokuta to Abuja Terminal Gas Station was awarded to the OilServe/Oando Consortium.
Maikanti Baru, group managing director of the NNPC, while speaking at the signing ceremony, said the AKK Gas pipeline was a section of Trans-Nigerian Gas Pipeline under the gas infrastructure blueprint designed to enable the industrialisation of the Eastern and Northern parts of Nigeria. The project will also enable connectivity between the East, West and North, which is currently non-existent.
The AKK section has suffered setbacks due to scarce resources for government to fully finance the project, hence the adoption of the contractor financing model, he said.
“The two other pipelines, the OB3 & ELPs 2 in the Gas Master Plan blueprint, are currently at various stages of completion and are being financed directly by the Federal Government,’’ he said.
In his remarks on behalf of the Oilserve/Oando Consortium, Emeka Okwuosa, chairman of Oilserve Limited, expressed gratitude to the Federal Government and the NNPC for providing the opportunities for indigenous companies to flourish in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
According to Okwuosa, the decision to award Lot 1 of the AKK project to an indigenous consortium speaks volume of government’s resolve to grow and encourage the attainment of the ideals of local content philosophy.
Abubakar Nuhu, vice chairman of Brentex Nigeria Limited, said the Brentex-CPP Consortium would rely mainly on the acclaimed pedigree and global expertise of CPP in pipeline construction to deliver a world-class project.
It would be recalled that the process for the award of the AKK project took off in July 2013, with the advertisement for tenders published by the NNPC in major national newspapers.
After a painstaking technical and commercial evaluation process, the Federal Executive Council (FEC), at its 46th meeting on December 13, 2017, approved the contract valued at over $2.8 billion.
On December 13, 2017, the FEC, approved the 614-kilometre 40-inch #AKK Gas Pipeline Project estimated to cost about $2.8 billion. The project will be delivered through a Build-and-Transfer Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model with 100 percent contractor financing.
