Construction of the East-West pipeline project, also called Obiafu, Obrikom, Oben (OB3) gas pipeline, has reached its final stage and is undergoing pre-commissioning test, The Nation has learnt.
The Group Chief Executive, Oilserv Limited, Mr. Emeka Okwuosa, whose company is one of the contractors handling the project, told The Nation in Houston, United States, during the Offshore Technology Conference that OB3 was undergoing pre-commissioning in the past three months.
According to him, a project of that size, the largest gas pipeline project in Nigeria, takes time to deliver because all the necessary processes must be undertaken. He said: “The pipeline is 48-inch in diameter and 67-kilometre long. To do the pre-commissioning, you have to clean up the pipe, pressurise it. Just imagine the volume of water you have to pump to fill it. Because of the size of the pipeline, it has to be sectionalised, we fill with pressurised water and clean it to meet all industry standard before you can remove the water and dry the pipeline up.
“To dry the pipeline alone takes time because you can’t mix water with gas, which you intend to transport, you will use a compressor with high pressure and temperature to pump air through it. Just imagine the volume of air you have to pump into 48-inch diametre by 67km pipeline. Sometimes, it can take up to three months to dry.
“The process is long and that’s what we are doing now. We are also doing the installation works at the end facilities because the pipeline we are building is different from ordinary pipeline you are familiar with. We have the facilities, which include the metering stations, the pigging and other heavy duty equipment. You have to install, interconnect, test, caliberate and do all those things that are required before it is put to use.
“The project is at the terminal end, we are supposed to finish by end of July 2018. So, we are still on track definitely.”
The multi-million dollar OB3 gas pipeline is expected to increase domestic gas supply by two billion standard cubic feet per day (bscf/d) when it begins operation later in the year. At inception, the project was estimated to cost over $400 million.