The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is set to drill the first foot of an oil well in Nasarawa State, North Central Nigeria having discovered a commercial deposit of the minerals.
NNPCL announced on Friday that the discovery was in continuation of its oil exploration activities in the country’s inland basins, adding that it would spud the first oil well in Nasarawa State in March 2023.
According to the reports last week, NNPCL is taking steps to explore new regions in order to increase the country’s oil output.
NNPCL outlined its plans for frontier exploration services. The prospective areas for oil include states in the North such as Niger, Nasarawa, Sokoto, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Bauchi, and Gombe. Additionally, NNPCL is also focusing on the Anambra basin in search of more oil.
On Friday, NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, announced the oil discovery and the planned spud-in when the Governor of the state, Abdullahi Sule, led a delegation of prominent indigenes on a courtesy visit to NNPCL in Abuja.
Kyari, in a statement issued in Abuja by the corporation’s spokesperson, Garba-Deen Mohammad, said the results of exploratory activities confirmed the presence of substantial hydrocarbon resources in the state.
“This work must be done very fast because the whole world is walking away from fossil fuel due to energy transition, the earlier you go to market, the better for you,” Kyari stated.
In his response, the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, congratulated the NNPCL boss on the successful commencement of oil production and the Kolmani Integrated Development Project which was inaugurated in November 2022 by President Muhammadu Buhari.