The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has confirmed that its funding arrangements on the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project will soon be concluded.
The corporation’s Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, gave this hint on Tuesday in his speech at the Nigerian Day during the 30th edition of Gas Technology Conference in Barcelona, Spain.
Specifically, he explained that tremendous progress had been made in the efforts to secure funding for the project when President Muhammadu Buhari visited China lately.
The corporation’s chief, who was represented at the event by the Chief Operating Officer, Gas & Power, Engr. Saidu Mohammed, said that the corporation had gone far in negotiating the terms of funding as well as the best payback structure for the project, affirming that the financial partners were willing to collaborate with the corporation on the matter.
According to him, the ground-breaking ceremony for the project is near and Nigeria is focused on expanding its critical gas infrastructure such as pipelines which would lead to a gas grid covering the entire country.
He projected: “Once you have the whole nation covered with a gas grid, industries will naturally spring up along the way and litter the entire country. That is our target in the long run”
Baru described the coming of Train 7 of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) as a “big bang” that would usher in new developments for Nigeria’s energy sector and expand the nation’s economy, adding that the project is also capable of unlocking new vistas for country’s LNG potentials.
Noting that the corporation has been looking forward to the FID on Train 7 in the last 10 years, the industry expert explained that the wait would soon be over and commended the Federal Government and the various shareholders for their support towards the NLNG project.
He enthused: “We cannot consume out our gas resources in the next 50 years, even if we generate as high as 40,000mw for power. We are happy that in the NLNG is a credible company capable of competing in the international arena.”
In his remarks, the Managing Director of the NLNG, Mr. Tony Attah, described Train 7 as the next big thing not only in Nigeria’s gas industry, but also in the global gas arena.
Attah disclosed that the company had made tremendous progress on the Train 7 project, promising that all the shareholders remained committed to supplying of gas feedstock for the project.
He said: “We are here at Gastech to assure the world that this time around, we mean business. And with the support from Government and our shareholders, Train 7 will be a success.”
The AKK gas pipeline is designed to enable gas connectivity between the East, West and North, which is currently inadequate.
It is expected also on completion to ensure gas supply and utilization to key commercial centres in the Northern corridor of Nigeria with the attendant positive implications for improved power generation and industrial growth.
