President Buhari Directs NNPC To Intensify Oil Exploration In North-East

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), under the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, is intensifying search for crude oil in the North-East.

As contained in a statement issued by the NNPC spokesman, Garba Deen Muhammad, the search is in line with the resident’s order “for deeper inquest into the prospectivity of some hitherto neglected finds in some areas in the North Eastern part of Nigeria”.

According to the statement, the group managing director of NNPC, Maikanti Baru, made this known while receiving Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, who paid a courtesy visit to the NNPC Towers, Abuja.

Baru stated that the renewed search for hydrocarbon deposits in the Chad basin will entail extensive probing of some allocated and non-allocated oil blocks in the region with a view to establishing the magnitude of the deposits.

“You know that very close home, we have exploration activities on the frontier basin in the Chad and some areas close to the Kolmani river where Shell had made some indicative discovery of hydrocarbons and Mr. President has directed me to go into that area to reprove and further explore the magnitude and prospectivity of those finds,” he said.

He said the NNPC has already identified specific oil blocks in the area (north-east) where some of the findings have been made.

“We are taking steps to re-strategize and get into those regions. We will re-invigorate the frontier exploration and see how they collaborate with NNPC that is holding Block A09 where some of the finds have been made and also Department for Petroleum Resources, DPR, for the other blocks that have not been assigned.”Baru urged the Governor Abubakar to join force with the NNPC in tackling the incessant pipeline vandalism.