Nigeria Moves to Shore Up Oil Output and Reserves as NNPCL Begins Drilling in Nasarawa

Nigeria is not relenting in increasing its oil output and reserves.

Since the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) announced the discovery of oil in Nasarawa State, the country has been looking up to its exploration with a view to expanding its oil coast.

Aside the Nasarawa first foot of an oil well in the Northern region, NNPC has been hoping for more discovery of crude oil in more locations across the north.

Nigeria’s oil firm later said it discovered the commodity in Bauchi and Gombe States while expressing commitment in continuing its oil exploration activities in other parts of the country.

According to a document on the frontier exploration services activities of the NNPC from 2020 to 2022, oil was expected to be discovered in Niger, Sokoto, Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

The company has said it would start the drilling of crude oil in Nasarawa on March 21, 2023.

According to the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, while speaking during a courtesy visit on the State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, the exploration for crude oil in Nasarawa State actually commenced in late 2010.

The NNPCL boss described exploration work as tedious, explaining that activities involve in it involve gathering of data, interpretation of the data, making sense of them and ultimately deciding to test the outcomes.

He said the company established a petroleum environment technically, seen its data and put in many years of work which had been done on recent times.

While commending Governor Sule for supporting activities of the company, Kyari said the discovery of the Nasarawa oil is during the administration of the incumbent governor and that the support of President Muhammadu Buhari has also gone a long way in ensuring the success so far.

The NNPCL boss said great potential has been discovered since the discovery of hydrocarbon in Nasarawa State, and expressed optimism that the exploration would be successful.

He said when the drilling is done and oil found in Nasarawa, it would usher tremendous development in the state and the country at large.

Specifically, he said the drilling of the first oil well would be done in Obi/Keana Nasarawa State in March, pointing out that the exploration would not be limited to the current location in Obi/Keana.

Investors King had reported that in November last year, President Muhammadu Buhari had flagged off the first crude oil drilling project in northern Nigeria, on the boundary of Bauchi and Gombe States.

The NNPC had in October 2019 announced the discovery of hydrocarbon deposits in the Kolmani River II Well on the Upper Benue Trough, Gongola Basin, in the North-eastern part of the country.

The commercial quantity discovery was the first in the region after several crude oil explorations in the Upper Benue Trough.

The discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantities in the Gongola Basin, according to NNPC, will attract foreign investment, generate employment for people to earn income and increase government revenues.