Nigeria’s national oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited, has confirmed the presence of oil in the northern Nasarawa State, adding that official drilling operations will commence this March.
Serving as the first oil well in the State, NNPC highlighted that this discovery is in continuation of the company’s oil exploration activities in the country’s inland basins.
The announcement was made last week by NNPC’s Group CEO, Mele Kyari, at the NNPC Towers in Abuja while receiving a delegation of prominent Nasarawa indigenes led by the State’s Governor, Abdullahi Sule, where Kyari called for immediate action on the project in the wake of reduced fossil fuel investment as a result of the global energy transition.
“This work must be done very fast because the whole world is walking away from fossil fuels due to the energy transition,” Kyari stated, adding, “The earlier you go to market, the better for you. Otherwise, 10 years from now, no one will agree to put money in the petroleum business except if it comes from your cash flow.”
Following the discovery of commercial quantities of oil and gas in the northeastern states of Bauchi and Gombe, NNPC has begun taking coordinated steps to ramp up frontier exploration in the region, in an attempt to boost the West African country’s oil output and reserves.
Additionally, it was noted that community support in the region and a conducive operating environment will be essential to successful oil activities in northeastern Nigeria, which have the potential to transform the socioeconomic landscape of Nasarawa State. The discovery of oil in the State will serve to attract foreign investment, while generating employment and increasing government revenues.
A statement issued by NNPC Spokesperson, Garba-Deen Mohammad, indicated that results of exploratory activities in the Nasarawa State confirmed the presence of substantial hydrocarbon resources. Meanwhile, the energy-rich sedimentary Anambra Basin has been listed as another area where NNPC has been striving to discover more oil.
