Confirmed: Niger state has oil
Niger state has crude oil, and that is official.
A committee set up by the state government last October yesterday confirmed the discovery of oil deposits in the Bida basin.
The Committee on the Development of the Bida Basin
(CDBB) said exploratory tests would be carried out to determine the
commercial quantity of the deposits at Patti-Shaba-Kolo and two other
locations.
The committee, headed by Lt General Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi, was set up to look at the commercial
viability of the deposits.
Submitting the report of the committee to Governor
Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu yesterday, Wushishi advised the government to set
the pace in the exploration of the commodities before the federal
government comes in.
He said the committee had floated two companies,
Midland Refinery and Petro-chemical Company and Midland Petrogas
Resources Limited, to serve as special-purpose vehicles for upstream and
downstream activities for the state’s oil and gas resources development
drive.
Reading the committee’s recommendations, Wushishi
said: “Niger state government, through the gubernatorial committee,
should take the lead in the formation of Association of Inland Basins
Development States, with a view to seeking the buy-in of other states
within the basin, to support the ongoing state’s drive for search of oil
and gas in commercial quantity.”
The committee also suggested to the government to
carry out a feasibility study for the viability of establishment of a
petrochemical and refinery plants at Baro, on the basis proposed by the
committee.
While praising the governor for his “vision and
courage” to drive the process of oil exploration after many years of
speculations, the chairman also commended traditional rulers in the
state for their support, which he said led to the success recorded.
In his remarks, Governor Aliyu said the committee
would be transformed to a standing committee and directed it to start
looking at the possibility of resettling villagers in the affected
communities, “so that the state would not witness the type of crisis
that happened in the Niger Delta.”
He said the involvement of the National Energy Commission of Nigeria
in the whole exercise has given credence to the exercise, adding that
investors should be encouraged to partner with the government on the oil
project.
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