People & Money

Oil Exploration to Recommence in the Chad Basin-Timipre Sylva

The Nigerian government will restart the search for oil in the Lake Chad Basin after three years of cessation of exploration activities in the region.

Boko Haram-linked violence in the area has abated enough for oil exploration to restart, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva told a gathering of newsmen in Maiduguri on Wednesday during a closed-door meeting of the military and oil and gas chiefs.

The government called off exploration activities by reason of heightening tensions in the Lake Chad Basin in July 2017 as suspected members of the Boko Haram sect assailed a geology crew from the University of Maiduguri.

State-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had earlier commissioned the experts to execute a survey of the place with a view to examining its viability for drilling activities.

“We are here to thank the Chief of Army Staff and the Nigerian Army for the great job they continue to perform in the North-East,” Sylva said in a meeting that had Mele Kyari, the group managing director of the NNPC, in attendance.

“We believe that without their gallant activities here, we in Abuja would not be living safely. Having thanked the Army, we also wanted to start exploration and drilling activities here because we believe that there is relative peace in the area.”

Africa’s top oil producer has seen its crude earnings drained by up to 70 percent this year, according to the World Bank, due to the double whammy of the record oil crash in April and government-imposed lockdowns around the world that has battered fuel demand recovery.

The Nigerian government relies on oil exports for over 60 percent of its revenue and for around 90 percent of foreign exchange earnings.

“As you may well know, we have found oil in Gombe and we believe that there is a lot of oil to be found in the Lake Chad Basin.

“We have seen a lot of prospects in the Chad Basin and we want to commence exploration and drilling activities and that is why we are collaborating with the Nigerian Army to ensure that security is provided for activities to commence very soon,” Sylva said.

He called for the partnership of the military in providing safety for oil workers in field operations and firming up the security of oil facilities.

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