The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Kacalla Baru, has debunked claims that commercial quantities of crude oil have been discovered in the Bida Basins.
He said that the Bida Basins exploration has not advanced to the level of declaring discoveries talk less of claiming that the oil and gas present is in commercial quantities.
Baru disclosed this during his acceptance speech delivered during his conferment with the Fellowship Award of the Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida University, Lapai (IBBUL).
He explained that there are ten stages of activities that lead to the discovery of oil and gas and the Bida Basin exploration is in the fourth stage which is determining if hydrocarbon has been generated in the Basins. โIDSL, a subsidiary of NNPC, is currently analysing the Basins to determine if the hydrocarbons have been generated.โ
โThere have been sporadic claims, even recently, by several bodies, including Niger State dictionaries that crude oil has been discovered in certain areas of the state. Also, it was reported that commercial qualities of oil were discovered from seven wells drilled through the collaboration of the NNPC and IBBUL. NNPCโs wish is: may this come true.
โIt is my hope that with this clarity, all claims and counter claims in respect of the Bida basins hydrocarbon discoveries will be given a befitting rest they deserve, until the conclusion of the current NNPC-led efforts or other efforts in the Basins are concluded in conformance with the due process enumerated earlier.โ
However, the NNPC Group Managing Director said NNPC is desirous of discovery of oil and gas in the frontier basins and is currently engaged in aggressive exploration campaign at most inland basins with the view of discovering new oil and gas reserves that will boost oil and gas production in the country.
โIt is our utmost desire that the success of the ongoing exploration campaign in the inland Basins will usher in a new Nigeria. Oil discovery in the inland Basins is expected to increase oil production and generate higher income to the nation, this providing more funds and linkages for speedy development of other sectors of the economy.โ
