Expedite action in oil exploration in the North, Buhari orders NNPC
President Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has given directive to
the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to expedite action in oil exploration in the North, specifically in the Chad Basin
and Kolmani River.
In a statement by the Group Managing Director, NNPC, Dr.
Maikanti Baru, the President’s directive to the corporation
to speed up its oil exploration efforts in the region followed the
reported discovery of hydrocarbons by Shell in the Chad Basin and
Kolmani River.
Baru, who disclosed this while hosting
the Governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar, at the headquarters of
the NNPC in Abuja on Monday, explained that the order was with a view to
making the most of the reported hydrocarbon deposits in the region.
The NNPC boss noted that the directive
had been heeded, as the corporation’s Frontier Exploration Services had
retooled to commence exploration with the Northern Nigeria Development
Company.
The NNDC had already started prospecting for oil in the basin. Baru said.
He said, “Very close home, we have
exploration activities on the frontier basin, that is in the Chad; and
also there are some areas close to the Kolmani River where Shell had
made indicative discovery of hydrocarbons and Mr. President has directed
me to go into that area to reprove and further explore the magnitude
and prospects of those finds.
“We are taking steps to get into those
regions. We will reinvigorate the Frontier Exploration and see how they
collaborate with the NNDC that is holding Block 809 where some of the
finds have been found. We will also do the same at the DPR for the other
blocks that have not been assigned, and work towards proving the
prospects of that region.”
Baru told his guests that the national
oil firm was willing to collaborate with state governments, but stressed
that the industry was facing a difficult time as a result of vandalism
of key infrastructure.
“The NNPC boss went further to reveal that the corporation is facing a very difficult time now, due to the challenges of the leakages that we suffer from infractions
of our infrastructure, in terms of pipeline vandalism and theft, to be
able to meet obligations to the Federation Account Allocation Committee.
We will continue to meet this obligation timely and effectively as much
as possible,” he said.
The GMD urged the governor to lend to
the corporation his government’s support in protecting and securing
petroleum infrastructure.
“A critical area of support that we will
implore you is the security of our pipelines that transverse the state
from Jos through Bauchi to Gombe and onwards to Maiduguri and Yola.
There have been reported vandalism and we will request you to assist us
with the necessary security surveillance to ensure that such acts are
brought down,” he stated.
Abubakar had earlier stated that he was
at the corporation to felicitate with Baru on his appointment to head
the NNPC, as well as affirm the state’s support for him.
He said, “We have come to congratulate
Dr. Maikanti Baru for attaining the very prestigious position of the
Group Managing Director of the NNPC. We felt it incumbent to be the
first to come to the NNPC to congratulate the GMD.
“We are aware of the situation of oil in
the international market; everybody is also aware of the internal
challenges we are facing in the country. We are hopeful and prayerful
that we will surmount the internal problems and the price of oil will
pick up in the international market.”
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