NNPCL Delays $700m OB3 Gas Pipeline to August
NNPCL announces new completion date for $700m OB3 gas pipeline project, now expected to be finished by August. The project, crucial for Nigeria's gas revolution, was delayed due to technical issues with the River Niger Crossing operation, but new contractors and technology have made significant progress.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, or NNPCL, declared that it will complete the $700 million Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben gas pipeline project, also known as OB3. As a result, the project's completion date was pushed back from March to August.
The project started in 2016 and was previously scheduled to be finished by March of this year, according to the Federal Government.
The statement was made in February at the 7th Nigeria International Energy Summit in Abuja by Ekperikpe Ekpo, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Gas. During the function, the minister referred to the OB3 gas pipeline as one of the biggest gas transmission networks in Africa and Nigeria.
“I am highly elated to announce that going by the contractor estimates, the OB3 pipeline will be completed by March 2024 and the 42" 127km pipeline will supply 2BCF (two billion standard cubic feet) per day,” Ekpo had stated.
The NNPCL spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, declared in a statement released on Sunday, June 23 in Abuja that the project would now be finished in August.
The statement claims that on Saturday, June 22, during an inspection trip of the OB3 pipeline River Niger Crossing operation at Aboh, Delta State, Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, verified this revised timeline.
The purpose of the OB3 gas pipeline is to serve as an interconnector between the Eastern gas pipeline network and the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline in the North and the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System in the West.
The main impediment to finishing the vital OB3 gas pipeline has been the River Niger Crossing operation, according to NNPCL, for more than three years. They clarified that this delay resulted from the failure of several technologies used to build the 48-inch pipeline between Aboh, Delta State, and Ndoni, Rivers State, beneath the riverbed.
It did, however, point out that the new contractors, Messrs HDD Thailand/Enikkom and Tunnelling Services Group, TSG, have made great strides with the use of the Micro-Tunnelling/Direct Pipe Installation technology, achieving about 860 meters of the 1,800 meters total thus far.
Kyari expressed her happiness at this development, indicating that the project will soon be finished.
He was cited as stating, “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. I am very happy and convinced that, latest by the middle of August, we will complete this project. I have been assured of that by the project team.”
On the significance of the project, he said, “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 a half years. We are happy that this will give us the platform to unleash the gas revolution in our country.”
Speaking about the project again during the tour, Ekpo said he was happy with how quickly things were moving along at the OB3 River Niger Crossing operation.
“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. 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,” the minister stated.
Olu Verheijen, the President's Special Advisor on Energy, said she was looking forward to the project's completion. She said that the technical team had convinced her that the right technology had been found to handle the intricate problems associated with the River Niger Crossing.
“As the minister and other speakers have said, we are looking forward to having this project deliver prosperity to Nigerians in the form of electricity and other areas,” Verheijen said.
The project was supervised by Ingo Justen, the Managing Director of Tunnel Service Group, one of the contractors, at the NNPC chief's request. With the technology available today, he was confident that the job would be completed quickly.
The Managing Director of NNPCL Gas Infrastructure Company, Seyi Omotowa, revealed in a presentation that the sole remaining component of the OB3 Gas Pipeline Project, the River Niger Crossing operation, would be finished on time thanks to the advancements being made with the new technology.
The pipeline, which can move more than two billion standard cubic feet of gas per day, links the Obiafu-Obrikom gas facility near Omuku, Rivers State, to Oben, Edo State.
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