Lagos — Major oil discovery, which can fetch Nigeria another commercial crude exploration and production, is likely in the northern part of the country, petroleum explorationists have said.
The crude geologists and geophysicists under the aegis of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) who made this known through their President, Kingsley Ojoh submitted that a modern technology, 3D seismic should be deployed to realize this dream.
The Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Abubakar Yar'adua said over the weekend that the corporation has invested about $500 million (N58 billion) in Chad basin oil search and the geologists declared that though about 240 billion barrels of crude have been discovered in Africa, over 150 billion barrels are yet to be discovered in the continent, making the Chad search likely for commercial discovery.
Speaking exclusively with Daily Independent after a NAPE seminar in Lagos, Ojoh declared that the Red sea, like the northern Nigeria "has once been written off in terms of oil exploration and discovery. It was written in black and white by some western explorationists that that region could not have oil deposits but with the aids of modern technology, it is today one of the finest region where oil is been explored in commercial quantity."
Although the NAPE boss confirmed that the "geology and other exploration activities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria have been proved by technology to be superior," he declared that the north "can not be ruled out in terms of commercial discovery."
When exploration at the Chad basin started in 1976, according to Ojoh, "only 2D seismic was used but we don not do anything (exploration) in the Niger Delta without 3D seismic. With 3D or any other advance technology, it is likely that major discovery can be made."
Disclosing that there are three prospective sub-basins-Gubio, Maiduguri and Baga Lake, in the Chad basin, he stated that "any find in any of these sub-basins would be named after them."
On oil blocks allocation in the north, Ojoh said: "The Federal Government gave these oil blocks so that the exploration and Production companies would be able to make finds in the region."
NNPC, it would be recalled has commenced preparations for exploration activities in the North and GMD of the corporation, Yar'Adua said while seeking the support of Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Mustapha Umar El-Kanemi and other traditional rulers in the state that field personnel would be deployed to the lake to work for a period of 12 to 18 months.
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This revelation is the beginning of the end of Northern domination on Nigeria oil wealth that may as well help to shape the new political landscape in Nigeria.
Though a know fact that there are some oil deposits in the North but it is now official. The importance of this landmark announcement would help to cajole the North and shed more lights into their future should they decide to drift apart as a separate entity. The scramble for domination of the oil money in the North would be an inter-state struggle that would take away focus from oil money from the south. This discovery would also shrink the demand on the oil money from the South that would in turn reposition focus on developing the South instead of everything to the North
It is a new dawn in Nigeria that would change the way business is done in Nigeria. The North would now have more than enough wealth to spray around and stash away without bothering the Delta region.