Nigeria’s state oil company says insecurity hindering oil exploration in Chad basin

Nigeria’s state oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Tuesday blamed security challenges for the non-commencement of oil exploration in the Chad Basin.

Mazadu Bako, the General Manager, Frontier Exploration Services of NNPC, disclosed this at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Geology Department, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.

He said: “If the security situation was not the way it is today, our locations for drilling would have been ongoing in construction.”

Represented by the deputy manager, Benue Trough Operations at NNPC, Alex Tarka, Bako said the Department of Geology in ABU has produced Geo-scientists who have contributed immensely to the Nigeria’s extractive industry.

“Let us take a quick look at NNPC exploration efforts in some inland basins in Nigeria, starting with the Chad basin. Between 1976 and 1996 a total of 33, 000 kilometers of 2D seismic data were acquired, processed and interpreted, which led to the drilling of 3wells in the Chad basin.

The Golden Jubilee was marked in honour of the pioneer Head of the Geology Department, late John B. Wright, who was given a posthumous award.