Page 4 - DMEA Week 26

DMEA COMMENTARY DMEA

Nigerian pipeline progress

Nigeria’s gas-to-power programme hinges on the success of pipeline
projects, which have a mixed record

NIGERIA NIGERIA’S government has declared 2020 to be schedule. Last week, it pushed the target date for
the “Year of Gas” – that is, a year in which the completion back once again, citing the techni-
WHAT: country takes full advantage of its ample natural cal difficulties encountered by Nestoil, one of its
The OB3 pipeline project and associated gas resources. As part of that ini- contractors.
has encountered further tiative, it is promoting domestic consumption of NNPC had originally tasked Nestoil, a Nige-
delays, while work on the natural gas. rian engineering, procurement, construction
AKK pipeline should start To be sure, Abuja has already scored some and commissioning (EPCC) company, and
soon. successes on this front, especially in the area of Oilserv, another Nigerian service provider, with
power generation. According to the Interna- building OB3. As noted above, the two contrac-
WHY: tional Energy Agency (IEA), gas-burning ther- tors were originally due to finish the link three
Both links will deliver gas mal power plants (TPPs) accounted for no less years ago but proceeded more slowly than antic-
to TPPs. than 80% of the country’s electricity production ipated. Oilserv completed its section of the pipe-
as of 2019. line in 2019, but Nestoil is now on track to wrap
WHAT NEXT: Nevertheless, the government is backing up work in December 2020 or the first quarter of
Abuja has tasked efforts to build more gas-fired TPPs – and it will 2021, Business Day reported last week.
a committee with need more gas to feed them. And to supply the
submitting a report on plants with gas, it will need pipelines. Equipment problems
domestic gas pricing So far, its record on pipeline construc- According to Chukweluoka Umeh, Nestoil’s
within 30 days. tion has been mixed, as recent developments executive director, the latest delays stem from the
demonstrate. construction of the 1.9-km section of the pipe
that will cross the Niger River.
OB3 pipeline delayed Business Day quoted Umeh as saying that his
One of the pipelines that is being built to deliver company was trying to bore an open-hole tunnel
gas to power stations is the Obiafu-Obrikom- with a diameter of 62 inches (1,575 mm) for the
Oben (OB3) link. pipe at a depth of 40 metres below the riverbed.
Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) So far, he said, horizontal drilling has been very
had originally hoped to bring this conduit difficult because the planned route of the line
on stream in 2017 but has fallen far behind is made up of many different soil formations,

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 26 02•July•2020