Nasarawa State is set to join the league of oil producing states in the country, as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said the first oil well in Keana will be drilled in March this year.
The NNPC Gas and Oil Ltd Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kolo Kyari, disclosed this when Governor Abdullahi Sule led a delegation on a visit at the corporate headquarters of the company in Abuja, at the weekend.
According to kyari, available data has confirmed the presence of hydrocarbon in Nasarawa State, with the company ready to commence drilling the first oil well in Keana by March.
He explained that, once the Keana well proves successful, it has capacity to transform the potentials of the State tremendously.
“We have carried out several exploratory activities in the form of gathering the right data and making the right decisions.
“We are convinced at this point in time that very soon Nasarawa State will join the league of states with hydrocarbon presence.
“This is not far away. As a matter of fact, we believe that we will start the first well in Nasarawa State by March and this is to confirm, it’s very typical science, that once we are able to make a success of that well, then the potentials of Nasarawa are beyond what I can explain at this point in time,” Kyari stated.
He however warned that the process needs to be hastened as the world is now moving away from fossil fuel towards renewable energy.
“It’s a work on progress but the opportunity of our life time is in our hands. This also must be done very fast. I must warn that there is something called energy transition.
“Today, the whole world is turning away from fossil fuel, the earlier you go to the market, the better for you.
“Otherwise, 10 years from now, you will not find anyone agreeing to put money into petroleum business, except it comes from your cash flow.
“Every thing 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 added.
Harping on the need for a clement environment to undertake the oil exploration in Keana, the NNPC boss said the company had 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 eminent and must necessary and as we leave this place, we will continue to engage so that those mistakes of the past don’t repeat themselves, so that we can accelerate development in the communities,” Kyari said.
In his remarks, Sule described Nigeria as having so many opportunities and so many areas of great potentials, like the Chad Basin, Benue Trough where Nasarawa State belongs, the Sokoto Basin, Benin Basin and Anambra Basin amongst others.
“I want to appreciate you, because the main purpose of our visit is to congratulate you, the management of NNPC, Nigeria as a whole for what you have just demonstrated at Kolmani.
“A lot of people do not really understand what you have done but in reality you have come up with an initiative that is not well known to us.
“For us to have a full integrated field development at Kolmani, it looks very strongly that Nigeria is taking a new dimension, it’s going to be similar to what we see in Saudi Arabia,” the Governor said.