Buhari Orders NNPC To Find Oil In North East

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is stepping
up measures to ensure a successful operation in the ongoing
search for crude oil in the Chad Basin and other parts of the
Inland Sedimentary Basin.
That is even as President Muhammadu Buhari ordered deeper
exploration of some hitherto neglected areas in the North-Eastern
part of Nigeria.
The Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Maikanti Baru,
made this disclosure on Monday while receiving the Governor of
Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar, who was on a courtesy visit
to the NNPC Towers, Abuja.
Mr. Baru said the renewed search for hydrocarbon deposits in the
Chad Basin would entail extensive probing of some allocated and
non-allocated oil blocks in the region with a view to establishing
the magnitude of the deposits.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Abubakar said he was leading a
delegation of Bauchi State government officials to the NNPC
Towers to felicitate with the new GMD on his appointment noting
that Bauchi State was proud of Mr. Baru and his accomplishments
so far in the oil and gas industry.
Briefing the visiting governor on the intensification of crude oil
search in the north, the NNPC GMD noted that the Corporation
had identified specific oil blocks in the area where some of the
finds were made and would move to re-invigorate exploration
based on fresh strategy.
“You know that very close home, we have exploration activities
on the frontier basin in the Chad and some areas close to the
Kolmani river where Shell had made some indicative discovery of
hydrocarbons and Mr. President has directed me to go into that
area to reprove and further explore the magnitude and
prospectivity of those finds,” spokesperson for the NNPC, Garba
Deen Muhammed quoted Mr. Baru as saying.
“We are taking steps to re-strategize and get into those regions.
We will re-invigorate the frontier exploration and see how they
collaborate with NNPC that is holding Block A09 where some of
the finds have been made and also Department for Petroleum
Resources, DPR, for the other blocks that have not been assigned.”
The NNPC GMD implored the Bauchi State governor to collaborate
with the Corporation in tackling the menace of pipeline vandalism
especially in the wake of reported line breaks along the NNPC
products supply line from Jos-Gombe-Bauchi enroute the
Maiduguri depot.
Responding, Governor Abubakar said the government and people
of the State would continue to support and pray for the GMD to
ensure that his dreams for the NNPC come to fruition as he
steered the ship of NNPC away from obviously turbulent waters
amid tumbling crude oil prices. .
Also on Monday, the NNPC flagged off bid opening for the
decommissioning and installation of towers and masts in Lagos,
Benin and Port Harcourt area offices with eleven companies
participating in the exercise.
Speaking during the bid opening ceremony at the NNPC Towers in
Abuja, the Manager Telecoms, Michael Ejike, said reputable
telecommunication vendors with proven experience and capacity
were invited to bid for the decommissioning and installation of
towers and masts in some NNPC facilities to give it a facelift.
He noted that the 11 companies that submitted bids were
required to bid for any of the four refineries of their interest,
adding that the exercise was geared towards providing equal
opportunities for all bidders in a transparent manner.
On her part, the General Manager, Supply Chain Management,
Sophia Mbakwe, said the result of the bid exercise would be ready
in three weeks, assuring that all prospective vendors would
receive equal treatment.
Commenting on the exercise, the Executive Director of one of the
bidding companies, Anthony Wokocha, applauded the NNPC for
the transparent conduct of the exercise and assured the
corporation of the readiness of his company to deliver on the
mandate if considered.