Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben Gas Pipeline

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Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben Gas Pipeline, also called the OB3 Pipeline or the East-West Pipeline, is a construction phase natural gas pipeline, running from the Obiafu-Obrikom gas plant to the Oben node in Nigeria.

Location

The pipeline runs from the Obiafu-Obrikom gas plant near Omuku, Rivers State, to Oben, Edo State, Nigeria.

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Project details

• Operator: Nigeria Gas
• Owner: Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
• Parent company: Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
• Capacity: 2000 million cubic feet per day
• Length: 127 kilometers
• Diameter: 48 inches
• Cost: US$700 million
• Status: Construction
• Start year: Originally 2021, delayed

Background

The 48-inch, 127-kilometer, Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) Gas Pipeline is being built by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. It was mentioned in December 2016 as being 80% completed, but in December 2017 an NNPC executive said it would be finished by Q4 2018.

In August 2018 it was reported that rain and flooding had delayed construction of the pipeline, and that the new expected date of completion was Q1 or Q2 of 2019. In May of 2019, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Oilserv Group, Emeka Okwuosa, said that the company will complete its part of the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline by September of 2019.

In March 2020, the Nigerian Gas Transmission Company stated that completion had been pushed back further, to Q1 2021, due to a variety of problems. The original construction contractor, the Nigerian firm Nestoil, had been technically incapable of building the portion of the pipeline running under the Niger River, trying and failing five times in 2018–19. Thus, NGTC switched contractors, choosing the Chinese firm China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Corporation (a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation), to finish the job. However, because of COVID, CPPEC had been unable to move the necessary construction materials from Lagos port.

As of October 2020, construction completion was reported as imminent. The pipeline will be operated by Nigerian Gas and construction was reportedly further delayed to 2021, citing difficulty building the pipeline under a riverbed and subsequent impacts of COVID-19.

In July 2022, construction was still incomplete, but the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, emphasized the value of completing the OB3 pipeline in order to make gas available to petrochemical manufacturers, to ultimately increase petrochemicals available for domestic consumption and export.