NNPC to fast-track oil exploration in chad basin

The group managing director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, has stated that the Corporation will fast-track its hydrocarbon exploration efforts within the Chad Basin and Kolmani River in the northern part of the country.
He made this known when the governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar visited him in Abuja, yesterday.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari, had directed that the oil exploration process in the region be sped up and the corporation’s Frontier Exploration Services had been retooled to commence in collaboration with the Northern Nigeria Development Company (NNDC), which was already prospecting for oil within the basin.
Baru revealed that the president had asked the corporation to explore the magnitude and prospects of the reported indicative discovery of hydrocarbons by Royal Dutch Oil Company and Shell in the Chad Basin and Kolmani River and also explained that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) had been intimated on the need to assign blocks in the basin for prospective investors to take up.
“I thank you for your support for me to deliver in this turbulent waters and, definitely, we are committed to collaborate with you and other state governors to drive all the initiatives that will fulfil the national aspirations as expected from my industry, especially energy security.
“Now is a very difficult time for us with all the challenges of the leakages that we suffer from infraction of our infrastructure in terms of pipeline vandalism and theft to be able to meet obligations to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC). We will continue to meet this obligation timely and effectively as much as possible.
“Very close home, we have exploration activities on the frontier basin; that is, in the Chad, and also there is some area 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 re-strategise and get into those regions. We will reinvigorate the Frontier Exploration and see how they collaborate with NNDC that is holding Block 809 where some of the finds have been found and also DPR for the other blocks that have not been assigned and work towards proving the prospects of that region,” the managing director stated.
He further decried the problem of vandalism of petroleum infrastructure, and called on the governor to help the corporation in protecting and securing the infrastructure with the necessary security surveillance to ensure that vandalism are checked.
Governor Abubakar stated that he was at the corporation to congratulate Baru on his appointment as the head of NNPC, and pledged the support of his state for the corporation.
“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 NNPC to congratulate the GMD,” he said.
“We are confident that, like he has done in all the other positions he has occupied in the industry, he is going to make a success of this particular position.
“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 that the price of oil will pick up in the international market,” Abubakar added.
Source: leadership newspaper