On Tuesday, around two years after the region’s natural wealth was discovered, President Muhammadu Buhari is anticipated to formally launch the drilling of crude oil for the first time in history.
The federal government’s efforts to guarantee that the area produces crude oil in commercial amounts have significantly benefited from this.
At the Kolmani field location in the states of Bauchi and Gombe, the president will officiate at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Kolmani Oil Prospecting Leases (OPL) 809 and 810.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) Group Chief Executive Officer, Mallam Mele Kyari, and others are anticipated to help the president as he conducts the historic exercise. Mr. Timipre Sylva, the Minister of State for Petroleum, is also anticipated to support the president.
It was discovered that Sterling Global Oil, the New Nigeria Development Commission (NNDC), and the NNPC Limited will develop the oilfields in the states of Bauchi and Gombe.
A NNPC source who spoke anonymously stated, “The event will take place on Tuesday, November 22 and would be attended by Mr. President himself along with most of his cabinet colleagues, including the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva.”
The development of the two licenses in Nigeria’s northeast was the subject of a call for expressions of interest (EoI) from the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) last year.
From the Bight of Benin to Lake Chad, the combined development of OPLs 809 and 810 in the Gongola Basin, in the Upper Benue valley, spans around 1,000 km.
Before then, the NPDC claimed to have found “large commercial quantities” of oil and gas in the Kolmani River, but said that the blocks were almost 700 kilometers from the coast, making exporting the energy difficult.
Additionally, it suggested building a midstream refinery and power plant on site, claiming that doing so would enable it to use these resources for neighborhood needs as well as “establish
A 150 MW power plant and a 50,000 barrel per day condensate refinery would be included in the design at some time during the midstream development of the facilities.
The Kolmani River 2 well and the Kolmani River 3 well were both executed by the NPDC, as it was known at the time.
The governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed, recently stated that the NNPC’s oil and gas drilling near the Kolmani River in the state’s Alkaleri Local Government Area will “turn the narrative of poverty and underdevelopment” in the state.
Over the years, NNPC Limited has spent money on frontier exploration, but as of the new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, the investment is now statutorily required.
The financing for frontier exploration has now been increased to 30% under the new piece of law, which suggests that the NNPC Limited will have more money to develop oil reserves around the nation.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) estimates that the country now possesses roughly 37 billion barrels of crude oil reserves.
Kolmani oilfield may contain up to one billion barrels of crude oil, considerably increasing Nigeria’s oil reserves.
The north’s oil finding comes at a time when the nation’s crude oil output has decreased to about one million barrels per day as a result of oil theft and vandalism, hindering the nation’s capacity to generate foreign cash.
