The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has executed contracts for the engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and financing for Lots 1&3 of the 40inch x 614km Ajaokuta – Kaduna – Kano gas pipeline and stations with a consortium of indigenous and Chinese companies under a 100 per cent contractor financing model.

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.

Lot 3 which 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 3 which covers 40inch x 193km stretching from Abuja to Kaduna will be executed in the weeks ahead.

Speaking at the event, Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, 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 would also enable connectivity between the East, West and North, which is currently non-existent.

He noted that 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.

“The two other pipelines, the OB3 & ELPs 2 in the Gas Master Plan blue print, 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, Engr. 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.

He said 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.

Engr. 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 teed-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 at its 46th meeting on 13th December, 2017 approved the contract valued at over $2.8 billion.

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