NNPC targets industrial boom in country’s north as gas pipeline nears completion

Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is betting on a long delayed gas pipeline to ignite an industrial revolution in the the North, its chief executive said after briefing President Bola Tinubu on Sunday.

Bashir Ojulari, Group CEO of NNPC Ltd, told reporters that the company has completed welding the main line of the $2.8 billion Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline, including the critical River Niger crossing – a feat that has stalled progress for years.

The milestone clears the way for connecting the pipeline early next year, a move Ojulari says will “bring gas in its full form into the northern part of Nigeria.”

“This is not just about energy,” Ojulari said. “It’s about industrialisation – fertiliser plants, power generation, and gas-based industries in Kaduna, Kano, Abuja, and Ajaokuta. We expect to see industrial parks spring up.”

The AKK pipeline, first conceived in 2008, is central to Nigeria’s ambition to leverage its vast gas reserves for economic growth. Its completion could transform the north, where chronic power shortages and a lack of energy infrastructure have stifled manufacturing for decades.

Ojulari also revealed NNPC’s production targets: oil output is expected to rise to 1.8 million barrels per day in 2026, up from about 1.7 million this year, while gas production will continue to climb. He credited structural reforms under the Petroleum Industry Act for enabling NNPC to operate as a profit-driven company, no longer reliant on federal allocations.

Ojulari said President Tinubu reaffirmed his push for $30 billion in new investments by 2030 and oil output of 2 million barrels per day by 2027.