Kyari: OB3 gas pipeline project will be completed in August

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it will deliver the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline project by August 2024 — a shift from the previous date announced.

Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer of NNPC, spoke on Saturday during an inspection tour of the OB3 pipeline River Niger crossing operation in Delta, according to a statement by Olufemi Soneye, the firm’s chief corporate communications officer.

Speaking after the tour, Kyari expressed delight at the breakthrough, which signals the imminent completion of the project.

“This is a major project of monumental value to our country. What this means is that this is the only way we can deliver the gas revolution,” Kyari said.

“I am very happy and convinced that, by the middle of August, we will complete this project. I have been assured of that by the project team.

“Once completed, we will see about 2.2 billion standard cubic feet of gas coming into our network.

“We believe that this will give our country a breathing space of demand, I am sure we can catch up with that kind of demand in the next one and half years.

“We are happy that this will give us the platform to unleash the gas revolution in our country.”

Also speaking on the project, Ekperikpe Ekpo, minister of state for petroleum resources (gas), expressed satisfaction with the pace of work at the OB3 River Niger Crossing operation, describing it as “Renewed Hope at work”.

“I was here last year, and I saw the work that was going on. There was a promise that it would be completed by December last year,” Ekpo said.

“I took it with a doubt. But today, from what I can see, I am confident that by July or August it will be completed, and it will be commissioned by the President.”

On her part, Olu Verheijen, special adviser to the president on energy, said she was looking forward to the completion of the project, having been assured by the technical team that the right technology has been found to resolve the complex challenges of the River Niger Crossing.

According to the statement, the OB3 gas pipeline is the interconnector which links the eastern gas pipeline network to the Escravos-Lagos pipeline system (ELPS) in the west and the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline in the north.

The national oil firm said the River Niger crossing operation had been the major impediment to the completion of the strategic OB3 gas pipeline for over three years due to the failure of the various technologies deployed to achieve the construction of the 48-inch pipe under the riverbed between Ndoni in Rivers state and Aboh in Delta.

With the adoption of the micro-tunnelling and direct pipe installation technology, the NNPC said the new contractors, Messrs. HDD Thailand/Enikkom and Tunnelling Services Group (TSG), are making headway with about 860 meters out of the 1,800 meters achieved so far.