Transparency issues becloud ‘one billion barrels’ oil discovery in north.
With Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure as president and minister of petroleum resources coming to a close, worries over Nigeria’s exploration efforts in the north of the country and a rumored discovery of one billion barrels of crude oil there are growing significantly. Stakeholders expressed concern yesterday about the development’s secrecy amid transparency concerns, despite the fact that the news of the discovery of a billion barrels of crude oil in the Gongola basin, which is located between Bauchi and Gombe, didn’t break until two years after the discovery was first reported. When the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), a subsidiary of the company that focuses on prospecting crude in the in-land basins, failed to include the specifics of spending by Frontier Exploration Services (FES) in its recently released 2021 audited reports, the situation became concerning.
The much-discussed crude oil discovery was not included by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) as part of the country’s current crude oil reserves, which are currently declining and have been at roughly 37 billion barrels for over 10 years. About one billion barrels of crude oil have been discovered in the Northeast, according to Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, who emphasized the necessity of conducting additional exploration. The deposit that has been found in the Northeast is estimated to be around a billion barrels based on the evaluation data that we are receiving. We are starting to comprehend the geological structure of the area as a result of the kinds of numbers we are seeing, the minister had said.
Crude oil, gas and condensates were discovered in the Kolmani River.
Although the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) established a fund where 30% of NNPC profits now go toward frontier exploration, the over 40 years of spending, estimated by some stakeholders to stand at above $3 billion, has been kept from the public along with crucial information on how the nation arrived at a one-billion-barrel discovery in the Gongola basin. Some geologists, explorationists, and energy experts have expressed concerns over the viability and reliability of a one-billion-barrel crude oil reserve in the region as the country’s total reserves and daily production remain on the downward trend, amid accusations that the frontier exploration agenda remained a northern one.
The oil blocks owned by the New Nigeria Development Firm Ltd, a company representing the 19 northern states, and located in the Gongola basins, specifically Oil Prospecting Licences 809 and 810, also caused alarm among the stakeholders. The blocks are being used without renewal; the experts insisted. Sylva’s announcement of discovery followed an earlier statement by the NNPC in the third quarter of 2019 that stated that crude oil, gas, and condensates were discovered in the Kolmani River region at a border community between Bauchi and Gombe states. This project is widely regarded as President Muhammadu Buhari’s pet project, which he started more than 40 years ago. Eight months had passed since Buhari had signaled the beginning of exploration efforts at the Kolmani River II Well in the Upper Benue Trough in the Gongola basin in the Northeast.
Technological advancements will aid the discovery of petroleum resources.
Nigeria’s inland basins include the Anambra basin, the rift basin known as the Benue Trough (which is divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower parts), the Mid-Niger or Bida basin, the Chad or Borno basin, and the Sokoto basin. However, despite the threat to the security of lives and property, attention has been focused on the north. While oil majors had attempted to enter the basins without success, activities began to move forward in the Northeast, particularly in the Lake Chad and Gongola basins, as soon as Buhari returned to office. However, the timing, political overtones, secrecy, and overall management of the plan were criticized. Renowned energy expert Wunmi Iledare questioned the NNPC’s findings, stating that neither the estimated amount of the discovery in the Gongola basin nor the assessed possibility of its exploitation were visible in the public domain.
He claims that present economic conditions and technological advancements will lead to the commercial discovery of petroleum resources at a specific point in the future. He emphasized that anything with a chance of development and final recoverability less than 90% is classed as unproved reserves. He also mentioned that the size of such a discovery is assessed on the basis of the likelihood of recoverability. The discoveries and frontier exploration, though a desirable route, have been clouded by political considerations, regional drive, and scorecard instead of economic realities, according to an expert who is familiar with the activities at the in-land basins.
If the discoveries were true, there should be information on it.
He believed that if the discoveries were real, by now the information should have been available for professionals and researchers to review and offer their opinions. According to the source, only the regions in the north are being given priority, even though touring through the inland basins across the nation is not awful. The source demanded clarification on the responsibilities of the Frontier Exploration Services, emphasizing the need for credible information on how the government arrived at the discoveries.
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If this findings are legitimate, experts and scholars would have had ample time to study the data and offer their assessments by now.
According to the evaluation data that was available, the deposit that was discovered in the Northeast is anticipated to contain somewhere in the neighborhood of a billion barrels.
If this is true than definitely, the state of our economy will change in no time, due to the amount of revenue that will be generated from this oil
Who are the people stealing our oil?
Why has the government become very negligent about it?
We have a million barrel of oil stolen, so it says much about why we can’t supply enough oil to the whole masses.
I doubt the fact over one billion of oil is been reserved in the North every thing points to the fact that some things are hidden among the elites that are in charge of affairs in the country.
The a lot of this oil barrel was discovery how is this huge amount was hiding since all this while that why oil was enable to to circulate round to the country we always have shortage of oil. If this is true we should be relieve of oil shortage
Despite the revelation of the finding of a billion barrels of crude oil in the Gongola basin, the government should investigate the development’s concealment due to transparency issues.
Concerns regarding Nigeria’s drilling activities in the north of the country, as well as a supposed discovery of one billion barrels of crude oil in that region, should be mounting dramatically at this point.
we should know that Frontier Exploration Services (FES) is a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) that specializes in crude prospecting in the in-land basins. When the NNPC’s recently issued 2021 audited reports omitted the specifics of spending by FES, concerns were raised.
Nigeria’s crude oil reserves are falling, but the widely-publicized discovery wasn’t counted by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission
The evaluation data that we are receiving indicates that the deposit that was discovered in the Northeast has somewhere around a billion barrels of oil. This estimation is based on the discovery of the deposit.
It is quite encouraging that we are beginning to appreciate the geological structure of the region as a result of the kinds of numbers we are seeing, and it is excellent that we are starting to do so.
the dependability of a one billion-barrel crude oil reserve in the region, in light of the fact that both the country’s overall reserves and daily output are continuing their decreasing trend, and in the face of charges that the frontier exploration agenda has remained focused on the north.
When this massive oil reserve was finally uncovered, it explained why the United States has chronic energy shortages. A solution to the current oil crisis, if confirmed.
That’s a lot. The government ought to look into these oil thefts. According to the evaluation data, there may be about a billion barrels of oil in the Northeast oil reserve. This estimate is predicated on the deposit’s finding.
one-billion-barrel crude oil reserve in the region as the country’s total reserves yet the country’s daily production remain on the downward trend…it is high time govt to look into these oil thefts,get perpetrators arrested and proffer lasting solutions.
Good they were able to recover all of these. There’s probably more. This oil theft is becoming a menace. The government should look into it. It’s affecting the production and the economy
Transparency issues becloud ‘one billion barrels’ oil discovery in north. imagine that, what kind of country is this. Everything is not working well
The whole discovery of one billion crude oil per barrel in Gongola basin is shrouded in secrecy and it is up to no good. The Buhari administration must be hidden something, where is it all northern affairs.
The one billion crude oil per barrels discovered in Gongola basin is a pointer to the fact that something is fishy in this administration and further investigation should be taken. President Buhari is up to something that will either disability the country or benefits only the northern part of Nigeria.