From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
House of Representatives has charged the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to conclude the geophysical survey of the area to ascertain the availability of hydro-carbon in commercial quantity in Bida Basin.
This followed the adoption of a motion by member representing Bida/Gbajo/Kacha federal constituency of Niger State, Saidu Musa Abdullahi on the “Need to Fast-Track Geo-Physical Survey/Seismic Data Acquisition to Ascertain availability of
Hydro-Carbon in Commercial Quantity in the Bida Basin”, at Wednesday’s plenary.
Abdullahi, in his motion, noted President
Muhammadu Buhari has directed the NNPC to fast-track oil exploration across the country, following Shell’s discovery of hydrocarbons in the Chad Basin and Kolmani River. He said that while the NNPC has complied on President Buhari’s directive on the Chad Basin, the people of Niger State are anxious about the slow pace of oil exploration activities in the Bida Basin.
The lawmaker explained that “the Bida Basin also known as the Mid-Niger Basin comprise of eight Local Government Areas including Mokwa, Lavun, Gbako, Bida, Katcha, Agaie, Edati and Lapai in the Southern part of Niger State which extends to two Local Government Areas in Kwara State and one in Kogi State.
“The Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC during a visit to the Executive Governor of Niger State, His Excellency, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello to unveil the 2D Seismic Data Acquisition in the Bida Basin in 2020, announced that the
NNPC had commenced oil exploration activities in the Area and that the exploration could add Forty
(40) billion Barrels to Nigeria’s oil reserves by 2023.
“The Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation responsible for the Frontier Exploration Services in 2020 noted that in-depth Geo-logical and Geochemical studies revealed a strong presence of hydrocarbon-bearing indicators confirmed as oil and gas-bearing formations.”
Abdullahi added that “the Seismic Data Acquisition Contract on the identified areas to determine the volume of the hydrocarbons in the Bida Basin was awarded to Integrated Data Services Limited and the China National Petroleum Corporation International Nigeria Limited by the NNPC Management.
“The discovery of oil in another region of Nigeria is good news for the country’s
energy sector and that if the volume of oil in the Bida Basin is established and exploration activities commence fully, Nigeria may, in the near future, overtake Libya, the country with the largest oil
reserve in Africa.”
Consequently, he expressed optimism that “the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and its relevant Agencies would expedite action for the continuation of the oil exploration activities at the Bida Basin Niger State and other Basins in the country.”