Despite Lake Chad Basin setback, NNPC embarks on oil exploration in Sokoto

Despite the lengthy but still fruitless search for oil in the country’s Lake Chad Basin which was suspended recently owing to the daring attack and abduction of exploration workers carried out by Boko Haram, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Wednesday revealed that it had already activated the process for crude oil exploration in the Sokoto Inland Sedimentary Basin.

Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru, made this disclosure when he received a delegation from Sokoto State led by Governor Aminu Tambuwal in Abuja.

Baru’s comments were in response to an appeal by Tambuwal requesting that NNPC activate the process for oil and gas exploration in the Sokoto Basin.

He stated that the appeal was not required as the NNPC had since taken the initiative and embarked on a professional exploration of all inland basins in the country including the Sokoto basin.

Baru revealed that that the NNPC had already procured aeromagnetic data on the Sokoto basin from the Nigerian Geophysical Survey and even awarded contract for the mapping and procurement of apt samples to aid the understanding of the area.

He added that the NNPC had contracted its subsidiary, Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL) to carry out various geochemistry investigation to boost the gathering and integration of all relevant data ahead of the planned procurement of seismic 2D data position which would in turn determine various prospects.

In his remarks, Tambuwal stated that based on existing exploration records, it was likely that renewed search for oil in the basin would yield some positive results in good time.

He commended the current administration for the renewed quest for oil in new areas, adding that the successful search for hydrocarbon deposits in the Sokoto basin would boost the nation’s oil reserves.

The governor said, “We are here more on an advocacy visit to your office, Mr. GMD, to kindly request for your intervention and attention for the office in charge of frontier exploration to pay attention to Sokoto basin just the way attention is being paid to other basins in the country”.

Tambuwal also invited the NNPC to a conference in Sokoto slated for October 2017, which is being facilitated by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) in collaboration with the Usman Dan Fodio University.

He added that the conference would thoroughly analyse the search for oil in the Sokoto basin.

Baru promised to attend the seminar, noting that the NNPC would use the platform to update and also share its knowledge of the basin with relevant stakeholders.

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