NNPC to commence oil drilling in Nasarawa March 21

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has said Nasarawa State is expected to join the league of oil-producing states in the country, as it will commence its first oil well drilling on March 21 2023.

Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer, NNPC, made this known in Lafia, Nasarawa State, during a courtesy visit call on Abdullahi Sule, governor of Nasarawa state.

According to a statement on the official Twitter handle of NNPC, the visit was to inform the governor of NNPC’s plans to commence an oil drilling campaign in the state on March 21, 2023.

In a video on NNPC’s Twitter handle, Kyari said, “We have seen a great potential for finding hydrocarbon in Nasarawa State. To confirm this, we will start drilling on the 21st of March, 2023. We are very optimistic that it will be a successful exercise.”

Last month, NNPC’s boss said the development continues hydrocarbon exploration activities in Nigeria’s inland basins.

He explained that once the Keana well proves successful, it can tremendously transform the state’s potential.

“We have carried out several exploratory activities to gather the right data and make the right decisions. We are convinced at this point that Nasarawa State will soon join the league of states with a hydrocarbon presence,” he said last month.

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“This is not far away. We believed that we will start the first well in Nasarawa State by March, which is to confirm it’s very typical science that once we can make a success of that well, then the potentials of Nasarawa are beyond what I can explain at this point.”

He warned that the process needs to be hastened as the world is moving away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy.

According to Kyari, it is a work in progress, but the opportunity of our life is in our hands. This also must be done very fast. I just wanted to let you know that there is something called energy transition.

He further said that the world is turning away from fossil fuels, and the earlier you go to the market, the better for you.

Otherwise, ten years from now, you will only find someone agreeing to put money into the petroleum business if it comes from your cash flow.

“Everything we must do, we must do them now so that we can create the cash flow that will continue to sustain the project going forward,” he said.

Harping on the need for a clement environment to undertake the oil exploration in Keana, Kyari said the company has sufficient experience from the Niger Delta, as well as globally, stressing that his firm is taking adequate steps to avoid them in Gombe, Bauchi, in the Chad Basin, as well as anywhere else that the NNPC is going into exploration activities.

He, however, said support from communities is necessary.

“Community support is very important. We will continue to engage so that those past mistakes do not repeat themselves so that we can accelerate community development,” Kyari said.