Following a visit to the facility on Saturday 22 June by Ekperikpe Ekpo, the Nigerian Minister of State for Gas, together with Mele Kyari, the boss of the public oil company (NNPC Ltd), it was announced that the entry into service of the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline, under construction in Delta State, is expected in August

The operationalization of the OB3 gas pipeline, which connects the gas pipeline network in the east of the country to the Escravos-Lagos gas pipeline system in the west and Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) in the north, has been expected for several years. This is because the finalization of the project was slowed down by technical challenges related to the installation of the pipeline. According to the manager of NNPC Ltd., once completed, the installation should facilitate the delivery of approximately 2.2 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas via Nigeria's gas distribution network