President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday flagged off the first crude oil drilling project in northern Nigeria, on the boundary of Bauchi and Gombe States.
During the flag-off in Bauchi ,President Buhari said the successful discovery of the Kolmani Oil and Gas field by NNPC and her partners has finally broken a decades long jinx.
The President also says the country also found 500 billion cubic feet of gas within the Kolmani area of Gombe and Bauchi, and has attracted $3 billion investment already.
According to the President, this discovery had emanated from his charge to the NNPC to re-strategize and expand its oil and gas exploration footprints to the frontier basins of Anambra, Dahomey, Sokoto, Benue through, Chad and Bida Basins.
He noted that similar activities across the other basins are currently actively ongoing.
The President said that his administration is pleased with the current discovery of over 1 billion barrels of oil reserves and 500 billion cubic feet of gas within the Kolmani area.
He explained that as a fully integrated in-situ development project comprising upstream production, oil refining, power generation and fertilizer, the project promises many benefits for the nation.
This includes but is not limited to Energy Security, Financial Security, Food security as well as overall socio-economic development for the country.
President Buhari noted that considering the landlocked location and the huge capital requirement, the economics of the project is a challenging proposition.
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 oilfield will be developed by Sterling Global Oil, New Nigeria Development Commission (NNDC) and NNPC Ltd.
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.
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.
