Signs of early improvement in the country’s poor power supply system due to frequent gas shortages began manifesting yesterday as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), on behalf of the Federal Government, announced that the development of the $5 billion (about N775 billion) East-North Gas Pipeline Transmission System will commence in the first quarter of next year.

To demonstrate its commitment towards the early commencement of the gas development plan, the corporation has already called for Expression of Interest (EoI) in that regard.

According to its Group Executive Director, Gas, Mr. David Ige, who disclosed this at the sidelines of the 14th Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Gas Association in Lagos, the construction would be implemented in segments, leveraging on an optimum number of contractors to enable speedy completion of the pipeline project.

“It is anticipated that by the end of 2018, effective throughput across the network will be about 1.5 billion cubic feet per day. Conceptual engineering has been completed for the network and FEED about to start,” he said.

Ige explained that it was intended that the pipeline would be funded, preferably through a combination of debt/equity of 60/40 ratio, adding that interested parties who desire to provide both equity and debt would be preferred.

He explained further that NNPC, on behalf of the Federal Government, would co-invest, by providing equity and debt from a combination of planned sources including annual appropriation through FG’s budget process and other sources such as the ongoing Ministry of Finance Eurobond.

He explained that though the pipeline construction was to be implemented commercially in segments, it would operate as an integrated network while revenues from any part of the segments would be consolidated in one pot from which liabilities would be serviced.

According to him, the network was intended to operate commercially, with revenues coming in form of commercially determined gas transmission tariff embedded in the Gas Transmission Agreements (GTAs) that would underpin the pipeline flows.

At the moment, he stated that the pipeline network currently exists in parts, much of which would be expanded and extended while the existing segments would serve customers; hence there would be cash flow in the system.

The proposed pipeline network, he added, would serve existing customers along the network, including cement and other industrial sectors, noting that the expanded network would provide robustness for serving new customers in the North and East as well as bridge the shortfall in the western area.

source: http://sunnewsonline.com/new/business/construction-of-n775bn-east-north-gas-pipeline-begins-next-year-fg/

₦775 billion!!
Chai naija don suffer finish!

Kudos Gej. Investments everywhere.

The President seem to be in haste to develop critical sectors of the country, it just conform the maxim 'if there's a will, there's a way' ... Hope the President will exert same will in tackling institutionalized corruption in high places.

Nice effort tho ...

What is the end game?the nigeria-west african pipeline hardly works.the pipeline supplying gas to the power stations is always been blown up by crazy bayelsa militants.while I believe we ought to have pipelines across the country, I cannot but guess that this is another everywhere to Abuja project . This is not a priority.
What are the major problems facing nigeria?
Security and massive unemployment.
Security I will ignore for the purpose of this argument
Massive unemployment -main causes
Poor power supply
Bad government policy
Corruption
Useless banks
Rampant importation
Neglect of the agricultural sector
Bad roads -concentrate on the key roads starting from the most important to the least important.
And so on.
That money would have been better spent on the east -west railways,reactivating the Enugu coal mine and building coal fired plants,reactivating the tin and columbite mines in plateau,assisting the private sector in taking over gold mining in zamfara etc . which would have generated more economic activity and jobs than a pipeline ,whose purpose I do not understand, I have no idea.
Also I hate this Abuja-petroleum induced paralysis which has been afflicting the nation from time immemorial

I think this will just be a waste of money.
Why build gas pipeline to the north at all cost when the boys can just easily blow it up at the slightest provocation.

5 Billion USD can easily produce 4000 MW of electricity, that should be a better priority for the nation than building a gas line to the North.

Una dey analyse, shebi na tif dem wan tif the money before..

Good step. I hope the money isn't squandered on useless things and I hope the money isn't laundered.

Danhumprey: I hope the money isn't squandered on useless things and I hope the money isn't laundered.

From past occurrences, I can say those things are on their to-do list for sure.
No be NNPC wey get bank account with JP Morgan in New York wey Okonjo-Iweala no fit explain?
Haha you have to trust them to perform to expectation.