The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru Pic NAN

London, Nov. 21, 2017 (AltAfrika)-The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it has completed, commissioned and delivered 500 kilometers (km) of gas pipelines between 2010 to date.

The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, said this on Tuesday in Abuja in a statement by Mr Ndu Ughamadu, the corporation’s Group General Manager Public Affairs Division.

According to him, this is part of an aggressive expansion of gas pipeline infrastructure across the country.

The statement said that Baru delivered a paper entitled, “Revival and Development of Local Manufacturing Industries: Chemical and Petrochemical Industries” at the 2017 Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

In the paper, he said the accelerated expansion of the gas pipeline system was sequel to the directive of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo to aid power generation.

Baru said the directive became imperative after the government realised that adequate power supply was key to reviving the moribund industries.

He listed the gas pipelines so far delivered by the corporation to include; the 196km Oben Gas Plant to Geregu Power Plant pipeline, 110km Escravos-Warri-Oben gas pipeline, 128km Ukanafun-Calabar pipeline.

Others are 50km Emuren-Itoki pipeline, 31km Itoki- Olorunshogo pipeline and 24km Imo River-Alaoji gas pipeline.

He noted that all available thermal power plants in the country were today connected with permanent gas supply pipelines.

Baru added that NNPC was driving the realisation of Federal Government’s aspiration to expand the gas pipeline network to all parts of the country.

He said with this, about 2,700 megawatts of Thermal electricity was expected to be added to the national grid in the near future to generate more power for new industrial revolution and sustenance of economic growth.

Providing details of the planned expansion of the gas infrastructure, Baru said the lines would be bolstered with the ongoing construction of the 127 km East-West OB3 gas pipeline joining Oben to Obiafu-Obrikom.

He explained that the strategic infrastructure was scheduled for completion by the fourth quarter of 2018, while the 363km looping expansion of Escravos-Lagos Gas Pipeline System was expected for delivery by first quarter of 2018.

He also explained that Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) tender evaluation process for Ajaokuta-Abuja-Kaduna-Kano (popularly known as AKK683km) gas pipeline contract, and the EPC tender process for the Qua Iboe Terminal to Obiafu/Obrikom (QIT-Ob/Ob gas pipeline) gas pipeline were on-going.

”Upon completion, the remaining projects are expected to add over 1000 kilometers to the nation’s gas pipeline network.”

On funding of oil and gas development projects, Baru said the corporation was adopting the Public Private Partnership models in building and expanding the gas infrastructures.

He said the development of the Ajaokuta–Abuja-Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas pipelines which was the first in line under the arrangement would be built through contractor-financing.

He explained that contractor-financing was a situation where the selected contractors would finance the project and recover their cost through transportation tariff.

”This model will be extended to other major backbone pipelines in the Nigerian Gas Master Plan,” he said.

He concluded that once these projects were completed, a nationwide gas infrastructure backbone would be in place.

”This is to fully enable the establishment of an integrated gas pipeline infrastructure grid across the entire country.” (NAN