President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday lauded the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), the governments of Gombe and Bauchi States and concerned stakeholders for the success of the first oil exploration in the Northeastern part of the country.
Naija News reports that the nation’s number one citizen flagged off the first crude oil drilling at the Kolmani field between Gombe and Bauchi states.
While commending all stakeholders for their unwavering commitment and willingness that birthed the development, President Buhari was optimistic that there is more oil discoveries process ongoing in the Anambra basin, lower Benue trough, and other areas in the country.
He explained that the oil discovery was born out of the new task on NNPC to re-strategize and expand its oil and gas exploration footprints to the frontier basins of Anambra, Dahomey, Sokoto, Benue trough, Chad and Bida Basins.
“Similar activities across the other basins are currently actively ongoing,” Buhari said while stating that the project has attracted over $3 billion in investments.
“We are pleased with the current discovery of over 1 billion barrels of oil reserves and 500 billion Cubic Feet of Gas within the Kolmani area and the huge potential for more deposits as we intensify exploration efforts,” the Nigerian leader said, giving credit to his administration.
He said that when there are near zero appetites for fossil energy investment, coupled with the location challenges, his government was able to attract investment of over USD 3 billion to this project.
The President further disclosed that the Komani field comprises upstream production, oil refining, power generation and fertilizer, which promises many benefits for the nation as a fully integrated in-situ development project, Naija News reports.
Buhari said the benefits of the development include but are not limited to Energy Security, Financial Security, Food security, and overall socioeconomic development for the country.