FG set to begin oil exploration in Ogun State

To shore up revenue through the oil and gas sector, the federal government is set to commence exploration activities in selected locations across the country, with Ogun State earmarked as one of the potential oil-producing states.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, made the disclosure on Friday while being received alongside other stakeholders in the industry at the governor’s office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

Stakeholders who were on the visit with the minister included the Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd, Osagie Okubor; the Chief Executive, Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe and the Group Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari.

Mr Lokpobiri said Ogun State had always been part of the Dahomey Basin with a prospect of having a huge deposit of hydro-carbon.

Also, he noted that oil and gas remained the quickest way to Nigeria’s economic prosperity, adding that his team was in the state in continuation of the campaign for exploration activities.

He said the visit to Ogun State was also to demonstrate the seriousness and commitment of the Federal Government to shore up its revenue through the oil and gas sector.

“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. Ogun has always been part of the Dahomey Basin and our presence underscores the seriousness the federal government attaches to the exploration activities that we want to carry out in Ogun State,” the minister said.

The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Mr Kyari, while speaking, said Ogun State was blessed to be in the Dahomey Basin corridor with expected high deposits of oil.

He assured that the corporation was coming back in earnest to commence exploration activities and expressed the hope that oil would be found in commercial quantities.

In his remarks, the Executive Director, Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, said the coming of the team to Ogun State was to further demonstrate the commitment of the Federal Government to grow the oil reserves and enhance federation revenue.

“We all understand that Nigeria is very prolific in oil and gas, but then there is still a need to grow the reserves through exploration activities,” he said.

Mr Komolafe said that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) made provision for the funding of the development of the Frontier Basins, adding that in line with the commitment and the aspirations of the government, the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission was working in synergy with the NNPCL to leverage on the PIA to aggressively 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. This is a good opportunity for the people of Ogun State and it would be complementary to the reforms and transformation initiatives of the governor. We want to congratulate the governor and the people for being the beneficiaries of this initiative,” Mr Komolafe said.

Responding, Mr Abiodun said Ogun State was part of the OPLs 302,303 306, 307, noting that the acreages presented unique opportunities for the qualification as a Frontier Exploration State as defined in the PIA section 9.

He observed that the history and studies over the years allowed any investment under the frontier exploration basin funding to not only realise the oil and gas potentials but also acquire data that would aid bitumen exploration and exploitation in Nigeria.

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“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.

“Ogun State, therefore, presents some unique opportunities towards the realisation of the full intentions of the PIA section 9 on frontier exploration, as it will guarantee additional petroleum production and afford more supply to potential refineries in the area.

“As a low-hanging result, this area also presents the opportunity for Bitumen extraction, thereby reducing import dependency and bringing with its savings in foreign exchange expenditure on this single line item,” the governor said.