Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Ita Iwa, has said that the
Federal Government had directed the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) to intensify its exploration in the Frontier Inland
Basins of the country.
Iwa dropped the hint in Abuja yesterday at the opening ceremony of a two-day summit on the Nigerian Frontier Inland Basins.
The summit was organised by the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) in
conjunction with the National Centre for Petroleum Research and
Development (NCPRD).
The Minister said that President Goodluck Jonathan gave the directive
in line with the aspiration to shore up national crude oil production
capacity and bolster the nation’s proven oil and gas reserves.
He said, ``This administration intends to boost the country’s oil and
gas reserve from its current level of 37 billion barrels of oil and
about 187 trillion cubic feet of gas.’’
Iwa said in compliance with the president’s directive, NNPC, through
its subsidiary, Integrated Data Services Limited, in collaboration with
China National Petroleum Company, had deployed the latest technology in
the hydrocarbon business.
He said, ``The technology is to locate the possible areas, where
there is sufficient hydrocarbon in the Nigerian portion of the Chad
Basin. There is an on-going effort by the corporation to put finishing
touches to a comprehensive framework designed to herald the
intensification of exploration activities in the Nigerian portion of the
Chad Basin.
Iwa, represented by Dr A. A. Talabi, Director, Technology Acquisition
and Assessment in the ministry, said that to increase Nigeria’s proven
oil reserve, the search for hydrocarbon must not be restricted to the
Chad Basin.
He said, ``It must involve extensive search in the entire Nigerian
frontier inland sedimentary basin, which include the Benue Trough,
Anambra Basin, Sokoto area, Bida Basin and Dahomey Basin.’’
He advised that the on-going efforts by the NNPC’s New Frontier
Exploration Services Division, leading the search of crude oil in the
inland basins must be sustained for it to realise its objectives.
The minister also observed that the previous exploration efforts in
Nigeria frontier inland basins had so far yielded no significant results
in spite of the fact that those basins showed signs of possible
hydrocarbon deposits.
Prof. Abubakar Sambo, the Director-General of Energy Commission of
Nigeria, (ECN) stressed the need to continue to search for more oil and
gas to add to the national reserves.
This he said would increase the foreign exchange earnings and meet
the vision 20-20:20 aspiration of Mr President Transformation agenda.
According to him, the opening of the inland basins will no doubt
result in new reserve discoveries and afford interested entrepreneur
room to grow.
``It will also give them the room to collaborate and engage in
profitable business alliances and economic empowerment, as well as
diversify petroleum sources for national development,’’ he said
Source: Leadership
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