The first drilling of crude oil in commercial quantity in Northern Nigeria is to happen on Tuesday under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The eight month search for crude oil on the Upper Benue Trough which has yielded result and will have the President present in person when the validation phase of the first integrated Oil Development project will commence.
According to an official of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the drilling activities will take place at the Kolmani OPLs 809 and 810 exploration sites located in a border community between Bauchi and Gombe states.
The Punch quoted an NNPC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as saying that, “The President is expected at the site on Tuesday to witness the first drilling of crude in the north, which is going to further boost our production as a nation.”
It was in February 2019 that President Buhari launched the landmark spud-in ceremony of Kolmani River II Well.
Shortly after the launch, in October of same year, the NNCP stated it had discovered crude oil, gas and condensate deposits at the site of Kolmani.
After persistent exploration leading to the discovery of crude in a commercial quantity, this will mark the first oil project in the North-East Upper Benue Trough, in the Gongola Basin.
The national oil company had stated that it had acquired 435.54km2 of 3D Seismic Data over Kolmani Prospect in the Upper Benue Trough, Gongola Basin.
