…Lokpobiri says lack of exploration activities depleting Nigeria’s crude oil reserves
The federal government through the ministry of petroleum resources (oil) has given a nod to the request of Kogi State government for support to begin crude oil exploration in the state.
Heineken Lokpobiri, the minister of state for petroleum resources (oil) who hosted the Kogi state governor on a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja on Thursday, noted that Kogi is a confluent state and would be granted the needed support through the Frontier Exploration Fund to carryout exploration activities.
According to the minister, harnessing the nation’s oil and gas resources remains the easiest way for Nigeria to come out of economic woes it is currently experiencing.
“I want to say that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources will partner with Kogi State Government so that we can use the Frontier Exploration Fund to do the exploration that is needed and I can assure you that we will not relent until we achieve that.
“The reason is that the easiest way we can come out of economic problems in the country is through the oil and gas sector and we have it in abundance in Nigeria, including in Kogi. What we need to do is to make the right investment so that we can extract this God-given deposit, God-given resources to the market for sale.
“The thing about oil and gas is that you must bring it out from the ground to the market before it has value. And for you to bring it out from the ground, you need to make the right investments and the investments are already coming.
“And once we find oil in good commercial quantity, Kogi can now have their own and then partner with operators or trade them for the benefit of the people of Kogi. There’s no state like Kogi in Nigeria if we talk about the geography of the country. And so once Kogi is better, it will have an equal effect on all parts of the country,” he said.
According to Lokpobiri, it has become necessary for Nigeria to increase its oil production as the world moves towards abandonment of fossil fuels.
He noted that oil production in Nigeria, during the COVID era, without new investment was about 2.4 million barrels per day, adding that there was a urgent need to address concerns currently affecting crude oil production in the country.
The minister who disclosed plans to carryout exploration activities in other parts of the country, said that Nigeria, in past years have not done so much in terms of exploration, leading to no growth in the nation’s oil reserves.
“Our reserves are about 37 billion barrels, our reserves should be times two of that. The reason is that all our neighbors that didn’t have oil, when our reserves were still 30 something, have found oil.
Read also: Nigeria’s oil exploration landscape promising amid IOC asset sales – SPE boss
“So there’s no way we will not find more oil, like we have found in Kogi, in other parts of Nigeria. The reason why we haven’t, you know, been able to update our records is because not more exploration was done in the last 12 years.
“But putting the PIA, there’s no money available. The government can use to do these seismic exploratory activities that will enable us to increase our reserves, not only in crude oil, but also in gas. And so I want to assure you that there’s funding that’s available for that purpose and the government is committed to ensuring that we do that for the overall strategic national interest of Nigeria. That I can assure you.”
Read also: Our people, land facing extinction due to oil exploration – Ogoni group leader
Earlier in his remarks, Ahmed Ododo, the governor of Kogi State commended the minister for the work done so far to boost production in the country. He solicited the support of the ministry to harness the potential and natural resources in the state, which he said has remained untapped over the years
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