Page 7 - AfrOil Week 31 2021

AfrOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AfrOil

Kyari further noted that the AKK pipeline
would support the government’s electrification
programme by delivering gas to thermal power
plants (TPPs). The project is expected to lead
to the establishment of three new independent
power producers (IPPs) in Nigeria, he said.
He also thanked Nigerian President Muham-
madu Buhari for backing the AKK initiative.
“This is possible because of the clear direction
that Mr. President has shown on the need to
deepen domestic gas consumption, with a view
to creating prosperity out of the enormous gas
resources we have as a nation,” the NNPC head
said. “He has given us all the necessary support
and incentives to deliver on this project.” EACOP will carry 216,000 bpd of Ugandan oil (Image: African Energy Chamber)
In a reference to recent news reports alleg-
ing that NNPC was searching for new sources The AKK pipeline will pump gas from fields
of funding because of difficulties accessing Chi- in the southern part of the country to new
nese credits, Kyari also asserted that the AKK domestic customers, including TPPs with a
project had not fallen behind schedule. The combined generating capacity of 3,600 MW
pipeline is still set to begin operating by the end and petrochemical producers that use gas as
of 2023, he stated. feedstock. As such, it is a key component of the
His words were echoed by Nigeria’s Min- Nigerian government’s domestic gasification
ister of State for Petroleum Resources Timi- strategy.
pre Sylva, who said at the same event that he NNPC and its contractors began building
expected the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) the pipeline along a 614-km route that runs
natural gas pipeline to come on stream in 2023 northward from the left bank of the Niger River
as anticipated. “Let me assure you that the in Kogi State to the capital city of Kano State in
[AKK pipeline] project will be completed by June 2020. When finished, the pipe will have a
2023 as scheduled and the aim of rejuvenating nameplate capacity of 99.11 mcm per day of gas,
the industrial base of the affected linkage states or approximately 36.175 bcm per year. Initially,
[will] fully be achieved,” he was quoted as saying throughput will amount to around 56.64 mcm
by This Day. per day, or around 20.67 bcm per year. ™

EACOP holding company seen “up

and running” by end of September

UGANDA PARTICIPANTS in the East Africa Crude Oil
Pipeline (EACOP) project are reportedly on
track to establish the holding company that will
build and operate the link before the end of next
month.
According to Martin Tiffen, EACOP’s gen-
eral manager, TotalEnergies (France) expects
the holding company to be “up and running” by
September. Once the new entity is operational,
it will assume responsibility for the pipeline pro-
ject, which has been in the French major’s hands
since 2016, he told the Daily Monitor.
The holding company should be able to
manage the handover seamlessly, Tiffen said.
“First and foremost, ‘up and running’ implies
having the new company, with its management, EACOP will carry 216,000 bpd of Ugandan oil (Image: African Energy Chamber)
staff, offices, IT systems, bank accounts, etc. –
everything that [the] EACOP project needs in pipeline was due to begin in the second half of
order to function,” he told the Ugandan newspa- 2022. This will allow the link to begin moving
per. “That’s one key part of the puzzle.” oil from western Uganda to the Tanzanian coast
He went to say that the construction of the for export in the first quarter of 2025, he noted.

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