AKK Pipeline: Shell Eyes Investment Opportunities Up North

Peter Uzoho

Multinational oil and gas company, Shell, has indicated interest to explore investment opportunities available in the ongoing Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline which criss-crosses some states in the north.

The Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Gas Limited (SNG), Mr. Ed Ubong, disclosed this in Abuja at a meeting with the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed.

Ubong who attended the meeting with the General Manager, Shell Energy Nigeria, Mr. Markus Hector, stated that clear guidelines and regulations that support and protect investments were key in boosting investors confidence in the Nigerian gas sector.

“SNG currently distributes natural gas for power generation to industrial clusters around Ogun, Abia, Bayelsa, Rivers and Lagos States and we are currently exploring markets along the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline project for investment opportunity to take gas to industries up north of Nigeria,” Ubong said.

The AKK gas pipeline spans a length of 614 kilometres, from Ajaokuta to Kano and it is a segment of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) and the Trans Saharan gas pipeline project.

Flagged off in June 2020, the project is being built at a project cost estimated at $2.8 billion. The pipeline is expected to enable the injection of 2.2 billion square cubic feet of gas daily into the domestic market.

Also speaking, Hector said massive business opportunities exist for Shell gas business in Nigeria, adding that the company planned to significantly expand its investment in gas distribution under the right regulatory environment.

He commended the federal government for enacting the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) which he said would support the growth of the gas industry in Nigeria.

At the meeting, Ahmed applauded Shell for its deliberate and active investment in Nigeria’s critical gas infrastructure to supply gas for powering industries in key locations in the country.

Noting that Nigeria needs accelerated gas infrastructure to deepen domestic gas distribution across Nigeria, Ahmed encouraged SNG to continue to be transparent, responsible and to practice good corporate governance in its business dealings in the country.

He said the federal government’s desire to boost infrastructure development, especially in the midstream, necessitated the enactment of the PIA, assuring that NMDPRA would put the necessary regulations to make business favourable to investors.

Ahmed added that his agency was putting in place the right framework to encourage competition, competitive prices, flexibility of supply and investments in gas infrastructure.