TheCable

The house of representatives has urged the ministry of petroleum resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to continue oil exploration in the Bida Basin.

Adopting a motion sponsored by Saidu Abdullahi, a lawmaker, during plenary, the lower chamber asked the entities to conclude the geophysical survey that the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) started in order to ascertain the availability of hydro-carbon in commercial quantity in the Basin.

In the motion, Abdullahi noted that the Bida basin, also known as the mid-Niger basin, comprise of eight local government areas including Mokwa, Lavun, Gbako, Bida, Katcha, Agaie, Edati and Lapai in the southern part of Niger state.

He added that the basin extends to two LGAs in Kwara state and one in Kogi state.

Abdullahi said Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer (GCEO) of NNPC Limited, informed the Niger state government that the Basin has a potential of 40 billion barrels.

He also quoted Kyari as saying that the “NNPC had commenced oil exploration activities in the area and that the exploration could add fourty (40) billion barrels to Nigeria’s oil reserves by 2023.”

Abdullahi said Kyari who was “responsible for the frontier exploration services in 2020, noted that in-depth geo-logical and geo-chemical studies revealed a strong presence of hydrocarbon-bearing indicators confirmed as oil and gas-bearing formations”.

 “The seismic data acquisition contract on the identified areas to determine the volume of the hydrocarbons in the Bida Basin was awarded to Integrated Data Services Limited and the China National Petroleum Corporation International Nigeria Limited by the NNPC Management,” he said.

According to Abdullahi, if the volume of oil in the Bida Basin is established and exploration activities commence fully, Nigeria may, in the near future, overtake Libya, “the country with the largest oil reserve in Africa”.

The lawmaker also expressed optimism that the “ministry of petroleum resources and its relevant agencies would expedite action for the continuation of the oil exploration activities at the Bida Basin, Niger state and other Basins in the country”. 

Abdullahi alluded to President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to the NNPC management on accelerating exploration across the country.

He said this was following “Shell’s discovery of hydrocarbons in the Chad Basin and Kolmani River”.

He said the NNPC heeded Buhari’s directive but residents of Niger state are anxious about the slow pace of oil exploration activities in the Bida Basin.

The development is coming few weeks after the flag off of the first crude oil drilling project in north-east.