After 8 Months Of Drilling, NNPC Finally Discovers Oil And Gas In North-Eastern Nigeria

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced that the northern part of Nigeria has joined the league of oil-producing regions following the discovery of hydrocarbon deposits in the Kolmani River region at the border community between Bauchi and Gombe states.

KanyiDaily recalls that drilling of the Kolmani River II Well was flagged-off by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 2nd of February, 2019.

After eight months of crude oil exploration in the area, NNPC Finally discovered oil in the Kolmani River II Well on the Upper Benue Trough, Gongola Basin, in the North-Eastern part of the country.

Samson Makoji, acting group general manager, group public affairs division of the corporation, made this disclosure in a statement on Friday, October 11, 2019.

He explained that at 18:02hours on Thursday 10th October, one of the reservoirs was perforated and hydrocarbon started flowing to the well head at 21:20hours.

Makoji noted that the discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantity in the Gongola Basin would attract foreign investment, generate employment for people to earn income and increase government revenues. The statement partly reads:

“On Thursday 10th October, 2019, at 18:02hours, one of the reservoirs was perforated and hydrocarbon started flowing to the well head at 21:20hours in which the gas component was flared to prevent air charge around the rig.

“Preliminary reports indicate that the discovery consists of gas, condensate and light sweet oil of API gravity ranging from 38 to 41 found in stacked siliciclastic cretaceous reservoirs of Yolde, Bima Sandstone and Pre-Bima formations. Computation of hydrocarbon volume is on-going and will be announced in due course.

“The Corporation has also acquired additional 1183km2 of 3D seismic data over highly prospective areas of Gongola Basin with a view to evaluating the full hydrocarbon potential of the Basin.

Makoji said NNPC has deployed world-class cutting-edge technologies to de-risk exploration in the frontier basins, adding that the corporation plans to drill additional wells for full evaluation of the hydrocarbon volume in the Gongola Basin.

He also said attention would be given to the Dahomey and Anambra Basins which have already witnessed oil and gas discoveries.

“The discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantity in the Gongola Basin will attract foreign investment, generate employment for people to earn income and increase government revenues,” he said.

Meanwhile, a prominent Islamic scholar, Dr. Ahmad Abubakar Mahmud Gumi, has declared that Nigeria will disintegrate and that the North will suffer most compared to the other regions.

According to him, in the face of a possible break up, the Southwest will be relatively stable; Southeast will be stable, but the North will be volatile.