NNPC Ltd to commence oil exploration in Ogun
By Abdulsalam Abdullah
The Ogun State Government has announced that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is set to begin oil and gas exploration in the state.
In a statement during the weekend, the government said the development would make its quest to become an oil-producing state materialise soon.
The statement added that stakeholders in the oil and gas industry were received at the office of Dapo Abiodun, Ogun State Governor, and Noimot Salako-Oyedele, his Deputy, to discuss the prospect.
Speaking at the meeting, Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State For Petroleum Resources (Oil), said Ogun has always been part of the Dahomey Basin with the prospect of having a huge deposit of hydrocarbons.
“We decided that we are going to resume exploration in the different Basins; we decided to come to Ogun State to reassure the people that we have very high potential of discoveries here,” he said.
“Ogun has always been part of the Dahomey Basin and our presence underscore the seriousness the federal government attaches to the exploration activities that we want to carry out in Ogun State.”
Lokpobiri said the visit was also to demonstrate the commitment of the federal government to bolster its revenue through the oil and gas sector.
“Today, we are here to tell the people of the federal government’s commitment to ensuring that we continue our campaign and exploration activities across the country,” the Minister said.
“We are doing this exploration activities in several places across Nigeria and today we are in Ogun after which we will proceed to Sokoto State.”
On his part, Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPC, said Ogun state is blessed to be in the Dahomey basin corridor, with expected high deposit of oil.
He assured that the company would return in earnest to commence exploration activities.
Kyari also expressed hope that oil would be found in commercial quantity in the state.
In his remarks, Gbenga Komolafe, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), said the team’s visit was to further indicate the commitment of the federal government to growing oil reserves and enhancing federation revenue.
Komolafe said the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) makes provision for funding the development of the frontier basins.
He added that in line with the commitments of the government, the NUPRC is collaborating with the NNPC to leverage on the PIA to carry out oil exploration in the Dahomey Basin.
“The Dahomey Basin stretches up to Delta, Edo, Ogun and Ondo states. We intend to in the course of this exercise, cover all those states leveraging on the provision of Section 9, Subsection 4 of the PIA,” he said.
In his response, Governor Abiodun said Ogun state is part of the oil prospecting leases (OPLs) 302, 303, 306, and 307.
He said numerous studies show the potential of the basins, highlighting the state’s potential for commercial success and economic benefits from exploration and production within a short timeframe.
“It is noteworthy that this is a region of the country that provides ease of access, low entry and operating costs, a safe and welcoming community and a very active state government support and participation,” Abiodun said.
“Ogun State therefore presents some unique opportunities towards the realization of the full intentions of the PIA section 9 on frontier exploration as it will contribute to guarantee additional petroleum production of additional petroleum products for the country and afford more supply to potential refineries in the area.”
The Governor said the area presents an opportunity for Bitumen extraction, reducing import dependency and reducing foreign exchange expenditure on a single line item.
