By Ikenna Emeka Okpani
Comrade Saina Buba, Commissioner for Youths, Sports and Poverty Alleviation in Borno state is from Tuba Village where Wadi Community in Jere Local Government Area of the state is located. Having been a Comrade exposed to interactions with the common people from villages of his local area, he understands what an investment like the drilling of Wadi B well in the Lake Chad basin could mean for the people.
He did not hide his excitement as he spoke with journalists on the sidelines of the flag-off of the drilling of Wadi B. “This is an event we have been waiting for all the days of our life. For those of us indigenes of Jere especially those in Tuba ward, we thank God, and we pray this exercise will commence in earnest. It will give more opportunity for development, employment, among other benefits.”
He was elated that such an investment was coming to his own community, and he did not lose sight of ancillary benefits that would come to his people apart from direct ones, which he said include employment, infrastructure, and improved economic prospects of the community.
“There has been sensitization of the people of this area. We learnt the project coordinators are going to set up clinics and schools, employ youths, etc. It is a very good development. We pray that the drilling will start so that we can extend our gift to other parts of the country” Comrade Buba said.
For Hajia Yagana Gumsu, a Senior Special Adviser to Governor Babagana Zulum, who is also from Jere Local Government but not from Tuba community, the drilling of the well at Wadi will bring development to the area and women will benefit from employment ranging from cleaners to clerks and food sellers to providers of menial services.
“We are lucky to have this project not only in our Local government but in our state. This project is going to empower our youths and offer them job opportunities. We are very grateful to NNPC Limited for bringing this project to our state,” she said.
According to her, if crude oil is struck in the area, both skilled and unskilled women in the community will benefit.
Hajia Gumsu described the project as soothing for many of the women of the state whom she observed have been ravaged by recent insurgency.
No wonder members of the community came out in their numbers with drums and dancing to welcome the guests who came to bring prosperity to their community.
Just emerging from the shackles of neck-stifling insecurity that saw to the untimely death of many and the breakdown of economic activities, Wadi like every other community around Maiduguri, the epicentre of the insurgency, least expected such a cheery news in a short time.
Set in a deep arid location, 50 kilometres of Maiduguri, Wadi community has had some sort of oily history. Wadi A wells were the earliest frontier basins to be explored in 1995. Exploration commenced as early as 1976 and continued till 1996. Records show that 33,000 kilometers of 2D Seismic data were acquired, processed, and interpreted. Three (3) prospective sub-basins (Gbio, Maiduguri and Baga/Lake area) were identified and two wells, Wadi 1 and Kinasar I, recorded presence of non-commercial gas. This development discouraged exploration in inland basins generally.
However, in 2008, due to emerging new technology, exploration was commenced and 1,962.20 km2 3D Seismic data was acquired, processed, and interpreted. Just when the whole process was looking up, insurgency halted the progress in 2014. It was only in 2019 that activities leading to the flag-off of the drilling campaign at Wadi B commenced. A comprehensive security risk assessment was carried out over time including a security awareness workshop to develop necessary protocols and check list for Lake Chad basin entry.
The well's total depth is 14 thousand feet and many potential reservoirs have been identified -hence the commencement of the planned drilling.
What is the probability of finding crude oil in Wadi B wells?
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| Mele Kyari, GCEO of NNPCL |
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mr Mele Kyari has no doubt that the Company will strike oil in commercial quantities in the Lake Chad Basin.
Speaking at the flag -off, Mr Kyari said he was more confident now than ever before that oil will be struck in commercial quantities following advance techniques applied in appraising the prospect of oil in the Wadi B drilling site.
“Our renewed drilling campaign has a higher geological chance of making commercial discoveries of hydrocarbons as we are equipped with state-of-the-art integrated geophysical datasets”, he said.
Kyari said the Wadi-B well was considered an Appraisal/Exploration well as it had been designed to appraise seven (7) hydrocarbon reservoir depth levels encountered by the Wadi-1 well that was drilled in 1985 and to explore deeper hydrocarbon reservoir targets up to a total depth of 14km.
He affirmed NNPC Limited’s commitment to carrying out a detailed exploration of the Frontier Sedimentary Basins using the best industry standards and technologies, with the aim of attaining commercial discoveries of crude oil and gas
This, the NNPC Limited Boss said, was part of a strategy aimed at monetizing the nation’s oil and gas resources by expanding access to Energy to support economic growth, industrialization, and job creation.
“NNPC Limited is committed to carrying out detailed exploration of the Frontier Sedimentary Basins using the best industry standards and technologies, with the aim of attaining commercial discoveries of crude oil
and gas.
“As a commercial enterprise, NNPC sees this project as an opportunity to monetize our abundant hydrocarbon resources, by Expanding Access to
Energy to support economic growth, industrialization, and job creation across the country.”, the NNPC Limited Boss said.
Mr Kyari used the opportunity to appreciate the collaboration and support of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and Government Security Agencies on the project which he said led to the spud-in despite initial challenges that had affected earlier efforts.
Mr. Kyari said NNPC Limited has undertaken a comprehensive assessment of the frontier basons in partnership with The Commission, adding that experiences gathered form the successful drilling of Kolmani and the commencement of drilling in Ebenyi in Nasarawa state have helped the oil company to understand the geological setting of the Chad basin.
He said the strategy of NNPC Limited was that wherever it found new oil it would apply the concept of integrated production facilities to quickly assess the resources and put it to the best use for the development and prosperity of the area and the nation at large.
" Like what we are doing in Kolmani, wherever we find new oil, we will consider the concept of integrated production and conversion so that value can be created very quickly. Of course, there is huge energy poverty across the world, more so in sub-Saharan African countries, particularly in our country. We know for sure that 70% of our population do not have access to clean cooking fuel and that is why we see high levels of deforestation in this part of the country.”
He said desertification will ravage parts of the country if we do not find alternative sources of energy for the communities that largely depend on firewood for cooking
He said exploration of the frontiers using this strategy would bring prosperity to the people and praised NNPC Limited for finding oil where others practically ran away.
Kolmani is already a success story as it has attracted over 3 billion dollars in investments. The Kolmani Integrated Development Project is a fully integrated project comprising upstream production, oil refining, power generation, and fertilizer manufacturing. When these various projects come to fruition, the Gombe and Bauchi state's economies will be boosted, and the power supply will be improved in the adjoining communities and city thereby boosting economic activities.
With Ebenyi A in Nasarawa State Coming up and Wadi B becoming a success, one can only imagine what these three integrated development projects would mean to the affected communities and the economy of our nation. What it means is that NNPC Limited has found a way to bring prosperity to the people of these areas against all odds.
Do other stakeholders share this sentiment? Yes.
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| Gov. Babagana Zulum |
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State believes the success of the Wadi B drilling project in his state will impact positively on the economic and social life of the people of the community and create direct and ancillary employment opportunities for the people of the state.
He described the drilling of the Wade B site after that of Kolmani in Bauchi State and Ebenyi in Nasarawa state as an effort of the Federal Government to diversify sources of oil revenue across the breadth of Nigeria.
Prof Zulum said the Federal Government was playing a key role in the restoration of security and resettlement of displaced people of the state through the development of infrastructure including the NNPC 50 megawatts Maiduguri Power plant commissioned recently.
“Oil prospecting, possible discovery and exploration in this part of the country, will no doubt create job opportunities for thousands of our youths and therefore reducing unemployment in our state which in turn will lead to a reduction in insurgency, stimulating economic growth and development of our dear state and the nation in general”
Governor Zulum assured NNPC Limited and NNPC Enserv Limited, the NNPC subsidiary directly handling the project, of the support of the State Government and mobilization of various security agencies to provide security to enable them to carry out the drilling job effectively and successfully.
The Governor appreciated security agencies for their efforts in returning peace to Borno State saying the relative peace enjoyed in the state currently was attracting people and investments back including the return of NNPC Limited to Wadi for the drilling exercise.
Similarly, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe described the flag-off as a milestone in the renewed exploration of inland Frontier basins in the country.
He said it was estimated that the drilling will yield over 943 million barrels and was therefore surely going to boost the crude oil reserves of the country.
Engr. Komolofe said the country was aware of the transition to cleaner energy and had come up with a policy in line with fair transition, which would allow the country to explore its crude oil and gas resources while deliberately working towards reducing its carbon footprints. For him this was necessary to build the economy and provide the fulcrum for energy prosperity and economic development of the country.
“Nigeria Energy Transition Plan recognises that in the light of rapidly rising population, accelerated resources development is needed to ensure improved living conditions for millions of Nigerians; and as a commission, we have continued to play a leading role in the discourse around promoting a fair , inclusive and equitable energy transition, enabling sustainable development of our oil and gas resources while providing regulatory support for the development of decarbonisation technologies and adoption of emission abatement practices in our upstream oil and gas industry operations.”, the Commission’s Chief Executive said.
The Emir of Borno, Dr. Abubarkar Ibn Umar Garbai Al-Amin Al-Kanemi, in his remarks, said the emirate was grateful that the planned drilling was becoming a reality.
He said added income from being an oil producing states would boost revenue leading to further provision of infrastructure in Borno. Additionally, he said jobs would be created for so many youths in the state while power supply will be boosted by the exploitation of oil in the state.
Earlier, the Chairman of NNPC Board, Senator Margery Okadigbo said the board was very proud of the development and congratulated the people and government of Borno state on the flag-off.
She said the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has opened a new vista of opportunities for the exploration of frontier basins in the country. She said the company would do more drilling in other frontier basins as it keeps recording successes in Kolmani, Ebenyi and Wadi.
There is no doubt that NNPC Limited is repositioning the nation and reshaping the income dynamics of the country through its Frontier basin exploration and the policy of integrated development and commercialisation of the crude oil found in these areas. Oasis of development, prosperity and investment are being built across the nation through this strategy and indeed as they say “the more the merrier”