Page 14 - DMEA Week 15 2021

DMEA PIPELINES DMEA

NNPC using rail lines to transport

sections of pipe for AKK project

AFRICA NIGERIAN National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) The NOC also described the opening of the
has begun using rail lines to deliver sections of new rail route as a “major boost” to the AKK
pipe to construction sites to facilitate work on pipeline project. The link will eventually serve as
the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) natural gas the first section of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline
pipeline. (TNGP), but initially it will pump gas from fields
Mele Kyari, the group managing director of in the southern part of the country to domestic
the national oil company (NOC), reported last customers, including thermal power plants
week that the company had completed its first (TPPs) and petrochemical producers.
shipment of pipe from Warri to Itakpe on April 8. NNPC and its contractors are building the
In a Twitter post, he congratulated NNPC for its AKK pipeline along a 614-km route that runs
inauguration of the new route, saying that the use northward from the left bank of the Niger River
of rail lines was not only cheaper and safer than in Kogi state to the capital city of Kano state.
road transport but would also save wear and tear When finished, the pipe will be able to carry
on Nigeria’s road network. “The infrastructure 99.11mn cubic metres) per day of gas, or approx-
revolution is paying up,” he wrote. imately 36.175bn cubic metres per year. Initially,
NNPC indicated in a separate Twitter post throughput will amount to around 56.64 mcm
that it had used 16 rail cars owned by Nigerian per day, or around 20.67 bcm per year.
Railway Corp. (NRC), another state-owned The cost of construction is expected to reach
company, to carry out the delivery. It noted that $2.8bn. NNPC has arranged to finance 85% of
the shipment consisted of 96 sections of pipe and this sum with a loan facility from China Export
said it would have had to use 32 trucks to trans- & Credit Insurance Corp. (Sinosure) that is due
port that many pipes by road. to be repaid over a period of 12 years.™

TERMINALS & SHIPPING

Morocco’s SOMAGEC to build storage

terminal at Damerjog complex

AFRICA SOMAGEC, a Moroccan port and maritime refined petroleum products and petrochemical
infrastructure company, will support efforts to feedstocks. SOMAGEC is slated to build the first
establish an oil-refining and petrochemical com- of these five depots.
plex at the Damerjog Industrial Park (DDIP) in As of press time, neither the Moroccan com-
Djibouti by building a new storage terminal. pany not DPFZA had divulged the value of the
According to press reports, the Moroccan contract. The parties have said, though, that the
company recently signed an agreement on the storage terminals will handle deliveries of feed-
construction of the facility with the Djibouti stock bound for the refinery and the petrochem-
Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA). The ical plant and also store refined fuels for regional
two sides finalised the deal on April 5, at a sign- traders.
ing ceremony attended by DPFZA President SOMAGEC is also involved in the con-
Aboubaker Omar Hadi and SOMAGEC’s CEO struction of an oil jetty for DDIP’s liquid bulk
Roger Sahyoun. port facilities. It began building the 3-km jetty,
Omar Hadi hailed the new agreement, say- which will be able to accommodate vessels
ing: “We are delighted to take this important step ranging from 5,000 DWT to 100,000 DWT, last
in the development of the DDIP petrochemical September.
complex, [which] will advance the industriali- DDIP will eventually be home to an LNG
zation of Djibouti and East Africa.” The project terminal, a thermal power plant (TPP), a ship-
“will position Djibouti as a petrochemical hub yard and other industrial units, as well as oil-re-
for the region,” he added. fining and petrochemical facilities. DPFZA has
DPFZA has said that the Damerjog complex noted that the complex will be the only facility
will eventually have five storage terminals capa- of its type in East Africa that has connections to
ble of holding 750,000 cubic metres of crude oil, marine, road, rail and air transport routes.™

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 15 15•April•2021