The impression that oil is the preserve of the Niger Delta could change soon, because the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is to commence the detailed exploration of oil in the northern part of the country next month.

The NNPC Acting Group Managing Director, Alhalji Abubakar Yar’Adua, who announced this in Abuja on Friday while giving an account of his one year in office, stated that the exploration will be done with the latest 3D technology. He explained that the efforts would be directed at the Chad Basin, Bauchi and the Benue basins, which according to him had oil reserves.

He dismissed insinuations that government was deliberately refusing to explore oil in the North so as to exhaust the reserves in the Niger Delta, adding that international oil companies were willing to do business anywhere they could find oil. Yar’Adua said, “Former exploration work in the region was done on 2D. But 3D is better as it will give you better perspectives. I believe that Nigerians will be happy if we discover oil there.”

The GMD claimed that under the past year, crude oil production had been maintained at an average of two million barrels per day with a reserve base of 3.3 billion barrels for both the Joint Ventures and Production Sharing Contracts. He added that this was achieved despite the community obstruction and incidences that militated against realisation of full potential of the country in terms of crude oil production.

He said, “The operators have successfully re-entered the western swamp operations and secured over 100,000 b/d production from Shell and Pan Ocean JV fields out of about 400,000b/d hitherto locked-in due to pipeline attacks.” Yar’Adua noted that Agbami Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel achieved first oil on July 24 2008 at an initial production level of 65,000 to peak at 232,000b/d. He added that the Akpo FSPO had also sailed away in June 2008 and was expected to arrive Nigeria by the end of August, with installation and commissioning to commence immediately while its peak production was expected to be 175,000b/d.

On the refineries, Yar’ Adua said the Warri Refinery and Production Company had achieved an average capacity utilisation of 80 per cent in the first half of 2008 and was currently processing at 100 per cent. He added, “The Kaduna Refinery and Production Company fuel plant is now running at 68 per cent capacity and the Lubes plant which has just been successfully commissioned is now running at 60 per cent capacity due to crude constraints.

“The Port Harcourt Refinery and Production Company continues to face peculiar challenges which culminated in the destruction of the Port Harcourt jetty by fire in December 2007.

“This incident drastically impacted on our import and product evacuation capabilities. There was also a fire incident on the refinery cooling tower in April 2008 but efforts are ongoing to repair the damage”

“Despite the challenges, the refinery operated at 60 per cent capacity utilisation until last week when it was shut due to fuel oil ullage constraints.”


http://www.punchont heweb.com/ Articl.aspx? theartic= Art2008081643175 3

I pray they find OIL. It would reduce the tension in the land a little bit, hopefully

I'm surprised there's no oil in the north.

I'd have thought oil is more likely to be found in desert regions, really.

Saudi Arabia, after all, has a lot of desert and a lot of oil.

Na by force?. . . . abeg these people should stop wasting NNPC money searching for oil that is not there. . . . if there is oil in the North, they would have already found some in Chad and Niger.

Ibime:

Na by force?. . . . abeg these people should stop wasting NNPC money searching for oil that is not there. . . . if there is oil in the North, they would have already found some in Chad and Niger.

contrary to that theres oil in chad

Indeed there is oil in the Chad Republic part of the Chad Basin. The odd thing here is the fact that hydrocarbon has not been found in commercial quantities on the Nigeria part of the basin.

I read somewhere that geosystems engineers explained that the problem is subsurface related. The conditions under which oil generation would be favourable (right temperature, pressure, trapping systems, reservoir conditions of porosity and permeability) is just not right at the Nigeria portion. . . . or at best, our part simply serves as the oven where the bread is baked. But the the Chad Republic end is where the baked bread is kept, tapped and sold.

I really do not see how the application of 3D seismic will help this time. Indeed 3D will give a better view and understanding of the subsurface, than 2D, but I do not know how viewing the subsurface better will erase the fact that the oil is just not there in the first place.

Let them waste more Niger Delta money. If they find oil there, eventually, I believe they will leave us in peace. All this gra gra na because Asari called them parasites. Good luck to them.

na grannot dey go find. j/k, i hope dey do so tensions would ease but the Hausa's runnin Naija would make that where Nigeria exports from not niger/delta

I have said Yar'Adua is pursuing a Northern agenda. They are looking for oil in the north, What happened

to Tinapa ? A minister toured the place and promised the president is given the project top priority.

That was months ago, we haven't heard anything since

i wonder wot government'll decide to waste money on next, _{*thinking* maybe we should start thinking of sending cockroaches to the moon, all in favour say aye}

Arnold1:


I have said Yar'Adua is pursuing a Northern agenda. They are looking for oil in the north, What happened

to Tinapa ?[b] A minister toured [/b]the place and promised the president is given the project top priority.

That was months ago, we haven't heard anything since

which minister visited the place?
what has HE/SHE done ever since?
What has the state governor/LG/Senators/reps representing the place done ever since
You don't expect the law to change with the click of a finger do you?
the senator/reps particularly should be pushing this at the house or assembly

Aren't these guys tired of wasting our Money? So many dry wells drilled, millions of dollars consumed and still no oil. =

@Ono
A prominent geologist once told me that it is thought that any oil in the Nigerian side of the Chad basin may have been burnt off by subsurface volcanic or thermal activity.

@Tex,
So then, the right temperature was just not there. What temperature range do we have at the Nigeria end of the basin?

But, assuming the geothermal gradient is not right at the Nigeria end, considering the fact that we're looking at one and thesame basin here - stretching from Nigeria to Chad republic, how is it that the geothermal gradient at Chad Republic end is right for kerogen and eventual hydrocarbon formation and not Nigeria?

Oil in the north? They should stop wasting our money abeg. Because their land is arable does not mean that there will be oil there. I just wish they find 5 large oil fields in Bauchi,Kebbi,Borno and Sokoto, let me see whether they'll decamp from Nigeria because of the new discovery and leave us alone.

seems some of you are actually being scared of oil been found in the north,well you guys can go on night vigil and pray oil doesnt get found

Patience,

methink they'll find it, and hope they do too. Problem is not resources, has never been really. It's been poor management and hatred towards one's likes.

na today

Am on my knees praying that oil be found in commercial quantity in the North so that they will first hand be exposed to the environmental degradation we down here have been suffering all these years.

Oil exploration in the North!!
This has got to be interesting.
The chances of finding oil is pretty fair, especially in that chad basin region.
But I wonder how it would play out if they find oil. Will they split or will they sit back and handover everything to the government, I wonder if they will be satisfied with 13% derivation.

ono:

Indeed there is oil in the Chad Republic part of the Chad Basin. The odd thing here is the fact that hydrocarbon has not been found in commercial quantities on the Nigeria part of the basin.

I read somewhere that geosystems engineers explained that the problem is subsurface related. The conditions under which oil generation would be favourable (right temperature, pressure, trapping systems, reservoir conditions of porosity and permeability) is just not right at the Nigeria portion. . . . or at best, our part simply serves as the oven where the bread is baked. But the the Chad Republic end is where the baked bread is kept, tapped and sold.

I really do not see how the application of 3D seismic will help this time. Indeed 3D will give a better view and understanding of the subsurface, than 2D, but I do not know how viewing the subsurface better will erase the fact that the oil is just not there in the first place.

isnt that the reason why more tests,researchs e.t.c need to be done to find a solution?im sure you wouldnt have anyone take you or the man's word for it untill the experts have been called in to confirm that

Well, they have been doing that ever since, even before Chad discovered oil at their end.  Experts from around the globe have searched for oil in that place a long while now. They've even pulled out in droves, when all of their effort yielded nothing. Some time ago, I read in the dailies that Chevron? finally pulled out of that place when their last exploratory well drilled in there didn't encounter any oil bearing horizon.

Which other experts will they invite now that will make any difference to what every one knows. Just leave them jare. It's another show of shame to justify their siphoning crude oil money from the Delta to fill the pockets of their well starved Alhajis and almajiris. Remember, OBJ did not give them a face while he was there. So, this is the biggest opportunity they have to siphon some more money from the South South. Parasites!