By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has commended the imminent completion of the landmark Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline project expected to help commercialise a substantial volume of the nation’s natural gas.
According to a press statement signed by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the state oil company, Mr Kennie Obateru, this was done by the Group Managing Director of the corporation, Mr Mele Kyari, while delivering a goodwill message at the 2020 South East Gas Utilisation Forum in Owerri, Imo State on Tuesday.
The OB3 pipeline project is expected to commercialise over 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day and generate billions in revenue as well as create thousands of employment opportunities for Nigerians.
It is planned to feed the Asa North-Ohaji South, ANOH, gas project, one of the largest greenfield gas condensate development projects, that will produce 600 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, an equivalent of approximately 2.4 gigawatts of electricity for the country.
The NNPC boss said the “NNPC as an enabler organisation has since realised the obvious economic importance of gas and has consistently made concerted efforts towards delivering the right infrastructure and commercial structures, in a bid to deliver value to customers and all stakeholders”.
Mr Kyari, who was represented at the occasion by the corporation’s Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, Mr Yusuf Usman, stated that the laudable initiative of the Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN), aimed at facilitating the optimal use of natural gas to drive industrial and economic growth, aligns completely with President Muhammadu Buhari’s aspirations of prioritising gas development for economic growth, power generation and the eventual industrialisation of Nigeria.
In his keynote address, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, said the best way to diversify Nigeria’s economy would be by driving the development and utilisation of the nation’s abundant gas resources, describing the South East as a region where an industrial miracle was about to happen.
Dipo Olowookere