The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Bayo Ojulari, has disclosed that the construction of the $2.8bn Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline project has reached 72 per cent completion as of the end of the first quarter of 2025.
Ojulari disclosed this at the 2025 Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers Nigeria on Thursday, in Abuja.
He also stated that the company has integrated technology to lower its production cost from the current average of $40 per barrel to achieve optimal results.
He emphasised that with substantial investments in energy infrastructure and technology, NNPCL is actively shaping Nigeria’s energy future.
This year’s conference was themed, “Driving Energy Sustainability Through Technology, Policy, and Supply Chain Excellence.”
Represented by the Executive Vice President, Upstream, Udobong Ntia, Ojulari stated that digitisation, automation, Artificial Intelligence, and advanced analytics are transforming the entire energy value chain.
He emphasised that this transformation is reinforced by the fact that global upstream oil and gas companies are projected to invest over $30 billion in digital technologies in 2025 alone.
He said, “At NNPCL, we no longer see technology only as an enabler. It has now become a fulcrum. We have embraced digital transformation not as a buzzword but as an operational imperative.
“Digitisation, automation, Artificial Intelligence, and advanced analytics are redefining the entire energy value chain.
“These technologies are not optional extras. They are foundational to improving asset reliability, lowering lifting costs, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. At NNPC, we have embraced this reality with a deliberate strategy. Our upstream subsidiary is deploying real-time reservoir monitoring, predictive maintenance, and AI-driven subsurface imaging to drive value and operational resilience.”
Continuing, the GCEO said the firm has planned the integration of green hydrogen feasibility studies into a long-term strategy.
He said pursuant to the attainment of net zero emissions by 2060, the state-owned oil firm has initiated several gas-led transition programmes.
According to him, the programmes include the expansion of its autogas and targeting over one million vehicles by 2026.
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He said, “In alignment with Nigeria’s energy transition plan, which seeks to achieve net zero emissions by 2060, NNPC Limited has initiated several gas-led transition programs, including the expansion of our autogas program, targeting over 1 million vehicles through 2026, the completion of critical backbone infrastructure such as the AKK pipeline, which is about 72 per cent complete as we speak, first quarter 2025, and also the planned integration of green hydrogen feasibility studies into a long-term strategy.”
He stressed that energy security for over 200 million Nigerians is non-negotiable.
He revealed that NNPC Limited, as an energy company, plays a key role in the power sector, contributing about 1,500MW of installed power capacity to the country, with one 1,000MW of IPP JV phases one and two, 650 megawatts of firm JV and 50 megawatts made up of emergency power plants.
Alluding to the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook, the Publisher’s Outlook, he said annually, global energy demand is projected to grow by over 25 per cent through 2040, driven largely by industrialisation in Asia and, of course, the fast-growing population in Africa.
African youth, according to him, are estimated to grow into about 800 million people, just the youth alone in Africa.
He said in Africa, over 600 million people remain without access to electricity, a statistic that reflects both a development deficit and a glaring opportunity for energy inclusion.
Speaking virtually, the SPE Nigeria Council Chairman, Amina Dalnmadami, recalled that since 1991, OLEF has stood as a symbol of dialogue, innovation, and policy engagement in Nigeria’s oil and gas landscape.
She said it commemorates the first commercial discovery of oil in Nigeria in Oloibiri, Bayelsa State—an event that forever changed the trajectory of the nation’s economic history.
OLEF, she said, continues to serve as a convergence point for stakeholders across government, industry, and academia to reflect, project, and act.
The chairman said while this year’s global conversation may lean heavily toward renewables, “We know that oil and gas will remain central to Nigeria’s economic stability, energy security, and industrial growth for decades to come.
“The path to sustainability in our context is not one of displacement, but one of optimization—leveraging technology to drive efficiency, tightening our supply chains, and creating enabling policies to enhance sector resilience.”
In his sponsor’s remarks, the Petroleum Technology Development Fund Executive Secretary Ahmed Galadima Aminu said since 2015, the Fund has remained a consistent supporter of the OLEF, recognising its strategic value as a platform for policy dialogue, stakeholder engagement, and forward-thinking discourse on energy development in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.
