The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), on Thursday, raised hopes that oil exploration will soon begin in the Lake Chad Basin, in line with the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari some months ago.

Dr. Maikanti Baru, group managing director of the corporation, who announced this when he met Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State in his office at Government House said: “We are here to intimate you on the level of exploration activities in Bauchi.

“We’re resuming oil exploration activities in the Chad and Gongola Basin.

“Our exploration in the Gongola Basin include those rivers that criss-cross some parts of Bauchi and Gombe States,” he said, listing the four local government areas expected to witness the exploration activities to include: Alkaleri, Darazo, Misau and Ganjuwa.

Baru explained that the decision to further explore oil in the Gongola Basis “is informed by the Presidential directive to resume oil exploration in this area criss-crossed by River Gongola in parts of Bauchi and Gombe states.

A source of encouragement, he hinted, is the fact that oil has been discovered in commercial quantity in neighbouring Niger, Chad and the Central Africa Republic, in their portions of the Chad Basin.

He said based on the recent work done by IDSL, a subsidiary of the NNPC, the corporation is compelled to further appraise the Nigerian portion of the Chad Basin trough due to their similarity.

Reacting, Governor Abubakar commended the President for the renewed commitment to the search for hydrocarbons in the Chad and Benue trough.

For him, “if our neighbours in the Chad Basin have discovered oil on their side, I’m optimistic we will find it on our own side too.”

He assured the NNPC of the unflinching support of the government and people of Bauchi state to the success of the project.

As an assurance of this, he said the state government is willing to provide offices and accommodation for all NNPC staff seconded to work on the project and urged residents of the state to cooperate with and support the corporation to ensure the success of the task.

For those who would soon begin to witness movement of equipment for the exploratory activities around their farms, the governor urged them to remain calm, even in the midst of “occasional blast within and around those areas due to the exploration.

The Governor promised to call a meeting of traditional rulers in the state to brief them fully on the development “so that they will educate their subjects.”

The NNPC team thereafter paid a courtesy visit to the palace of the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Suleiman to solicit his fatherly support towards the renewed oil search in the Gongola Basin. (Independent)

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