Economic Impact Of $2.8Bn AKK Gas Pipeline Project Will Be Massive -Ojulari
By Sunday Etuka, Abuja
The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.), Engr. Bayo Ojulari, has stated that the impact of the ongoing $2.8 billion Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline project to the nation’s economy would be quite significant.
Engr. Ojulari stated this on Thursday while receiving the Management team of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), led by its Executive Secretary, Dr. Orji Ogbonnya Orji, at the NNPC Towers, Abuja.
The completion of the AKK, a 614 km project designed to transport natural gas from Ajaokuta to Kano, to boost power generation, support industrial growth in northern Nigeria, and create jobs, was put at 72% as at April this year.
Speaking, the NNPC boss said: “We’re not just working on the pipeline. Our gas and new business team are actively engaging the market already. We’re engaging customers, off takers and helping them to put structures in place to ensure that it’s not about the gas line, it’s about the growth of the businesses, both in terms of power, industrial park, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) extensions that are going to come off on the back of AKK alone.”
He underscored the need for collaborations to meet the presidential oil production target of 3 million barrels per day by 2030.
“In terms of our own aspirations, of course, you saw the mandate we got from the president when we were appointed about growing oil production to three million barrels per day by 2030, growing gas production to minimum of 20 billion cubic feet per day by again, 2030.
“Our aspiration is to pitch that target on the gas. You’ve also noticed the refinery capacity where we are required to have additional refining capacity of 500,000 barrels per day by 2030. And to achieve that, we are required to bring in additional investment of minimum of $60 billion.
“It takes a lot of transformation for us to be able to achieve those kinds of numbers. And we are committed to drive those transformation in partnership with all the other operators that we work with and also partner with government,” he said.
Acknowledging that major transformations would not be achieved without resistance, Ojulari said the national oil company is determined to work with all the key stakeholders to manage the resistance.
“But we are not deterred because for us, based on our experiences, based on the trust that the president has put to us as professionals, we know how to do this. We can see the light and the path to achieving it,” he said.
