Northern governors hires british firm on prospective oil discovery

    

    The 19 northern state governors have intensified their search for oil and gas in the region with the appointment of a British firm to carry out the exploration activities.

The Chairman, Northern Nigeria Development Company, owned by the 19 northern state governments, Mallam Bashir Dalhatu, said the company had commenced its prospects for oil and gas in the Lake Chad and Benue basins, using the services of the British company.

 In his statement ; 

 “We have engaged a British company that is already working in the Lake Chad region and from Niger and Chad side in the same area with us and we have been meeting with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in order to put efforts together..
“The Federal Government has also re-emphasised to us, during those meetings, its total support for exploration and exploitation of oil and gas in the North-East of the country.”

  The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru, also confirmed that exploration activities was ongoing in the frontier basin in Chad and in some areas close to the Kolmani River, located in Bauchi State, where Shell had made some indicative discovery of hydrocarbons.

Baru said that the NNPC was currently taking steps to re-strategise and get into those regions to step up crude oil exploration activities.“We will reinvigorate the frontier exploration services and see how they collaborate with the Northern Nigeria Development Company.“The NNDC is holding bloc 809 where we have some of the finds and the Department for Petroleum Resources, for the other blocs that have not been assigned,” he added.