The Group Managing Director, Maikanti Baru has revealed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has concluded plans to move heavy equipment to Bauchi and Gombe States preparatory to oil exploration.
Baru, who was received by senior officials of the corporation and the Bauchi State Chief of Staff, Audu Sule Katagum, said his mission to both states was to sensitise people on the forthcoming activity.
“We are here to signify our intention to sensitise the good people of Bauchi and Gombe States on our effort to move back to the Gongola Basin,” he said.
“Our intention is to start 3D seismic acquisition and cover as much of the basin as possible, to continue work, in terms of exploring hydrocarbon in the North East. Of course, our activities in the Chad Basin will also be re-activated, as soon as we get clear sign.
“Our mission is to sensitise the people, so that if they see the seismic crew moving about in their farms, drilling boreholes, and dropping seismic lines across various areas, they would not be distracted or scared.
“We have come specifically to lay various equipment and take seismic data. That data will be analysed and we will see as deep as possible below the surface, as much as 10 to 15 kilometers below the ground,” he noted.
On the possibility of getting oil in Bauchi and Gombe, Baru said: “The prospect is good because exploration that was done in one of the wells near Yankari Game Reserve showed interesting find, although not in commercial quantity. Our intention is to probe with more definitive seismic data that will ensure we cover as much as possible.”
