Buhari ‘orders’ NNPC to intensify oil search in the north-east

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to intensify oil search in the north-east.

In a statement by Garba Deen Muhammad, the NNPC spokesman, the corporation said it is stepping up measures to ensure a successful operation in the ongoing search for crude oil in the Chad basin and other parts of the inland sedimentary basin.

This, he said, is in line with the president’s order “for deeper inquest into the prospectivity of some hitherto neglected finds in some areas in the North Eastern part of Nigeria”.

Maikanti Baru, group managing director of the corporation, disclosed this while receiving Mohammed Abubakar, governor of Bauchi state, who was on a courtesy visit to the NNPC Towers, Abuja.

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

Abubakar said the reason for his visit to the NNPC Towers was to felicitate with the new GMD on his appointment, noting that Bauchi state is proud of Baru and his accomplishments so far in the oil and gas industry.

Baru noted that the corporation has identified specific oil blocks in the area (north-east) where some of the finds have been made and would move to re-invigorate exploration based on fresh strategy.

“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,” Baru said.

“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 implored the Bauchi state governor to collaborate with the corporation in tackling the menace of pipeline vandalism.

He asked that special attention be given to reported line breaks along the NNPC products supply line from Jos-Gombe-Bauchi enroute the Maiduguri depot.

Abubakar said the government and people of Bauchi would continue to support and pray for the GMD to ensure that his dreams for the NNPC is fulfilled even in the face of “obviously turbulent waters amid tumbling crude oil prices”.