The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has shifted delivery date for the completion of the $700million Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben gas pipeline project, popularly called OB3, from March to August 2024, with a promise to complete the facility soon.
Recall that the federal government had on February 28, 2024, declared that the project, which commenced in 2016, would be completed in March this year.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, who gave the promise at the 7th Nigeria International Energy Summit in Abuja, described the OB3 gas pipeline as one of the biggest gas transmission systems in Africa.
But in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, NNPCL spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye said the project would be completed in August.
According to Soneye, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC, Mele Kyari, confirmed the new date during an inspection tour of the OB3 pipeline River Niger Crossing operation at Aboh, Delta State, on Saturday.
By design, the OB3 gas pipeline is the interconnector linking the Eastern gas pipeline network to the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System in the West and the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline in the North.
The River Niger Crossing operation has been the major impediment to the completion of the strategic OB3 gas pipeline for over three years, NNPC stated.
The statement discussed that the new development was due to the failure of the various technologies deployed to achieve the construction of the 48-inch pipe under the river bed between Ndoni in Rivers State and Aboh in Delta State.
It, however, noted that with the adoption of the Micro-Tunnelling/Direct Pipe Installation technology, the new contractors, Messrs HDD Thailand/Enikkom and Tunnelling Services Group, TSG, were making a headway with about 860mout of the 1,800m achieved so far.
Speaking after the inspection tour, Kyari expressed delight at the breakthrough, which signalled 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. 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.
“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,” Kyari was quoted as saying.
Also speaking, Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen said she was looking forward to the completion of the project having been assured by the technical team that the right technology had been found to resolve the complex challenges of 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.
For his part, the managing director of Tunnel Service Group, one of the contractors to the project, Ingo Justen expressed confidence that the current technology being applied in the execution of the project would lead to its speedy conclusion.
