By Anthony Uche

In the past couple of months the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has intensified the search for commercial hydrocarbon deposits in Nigeria’s inland basins. This follows directive from President Goodluck Jonathan to the corporation on to put more zest into frontier exploration. The directive is in line with his administration’s aspiration to achieve increased crude oil production capacity and bolster the country’s reserve of oil and gas from its current level of 37 billion barrels, and about 187 trillion cubic feet, tcf, of gas.

Leading the charge for exploration in these basins is the NNPC’s new exploration services division, the National Frontier Exploration Service, NFES, which is an arm of the corporation formed for the purpose of regulating and stimulating petroleum exploration activities in unassigned frontiers beyond the currently producing onshore Niger Delta and deep water basins. Already preliminary work on seismic data acquisition and processing has begun, with over 3,000 sq km of 3-D seismic data acquired for processing, and interpretation in addition to the 6000km of 2-D data that is currently being reprocessed.

The acreages which are located in the Anambra, Benue trough, Bida, Chad, and Sokoto basins, have all been explored by the international oil companies, IOCs, in the past with no success recorded. Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, TotalfinaElf, ExxonMobil and Chevron Nigeria Limited, among others, had acquired and explored acreages within the basins between 1994 and 1998, with the hope of  hacking to deep oil deposits, but all the efforts ended up in what industry operators call “dry holes,” after enormous resources had been expended. The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, the upstream subsidiary of NNPC, has also lost billions of naira in previous futile efforts.

NNPC remains hopeful of hitting oil in these basins. This is hinged on its belief that available new technologies would yield results where previous exploratory efforts have failed. Also oil discoveries in commercial quantities in basins located in countries like Chad, Niger republic and Sudan, with similar geological formations, have continued to make the NNPC hopeful. Discoveries made in Doba, Doseo, and Bongor in Chad all have the potential of over 2 billion barrels, bbls, oil reserve, and Termit-Agadem Basin in Niger republic has the potential to hold over 1bbls of oil reserve.

“The assignment we are undertaking here is very critical. The whole nation is looking up to us to prove once and for all that there are indeed commercial hydrocarbon deposits on the Nigerian side of the Chad Basin and other inland basins. We need to bell the cat, by going to the frontier areas to develop them and prove to the world that there is commercial hydrocarbon and then invite other people to come and join us” Austen Oniwon, Group Managing Director, GMD, of NNPC remarked recently.

This brings one to the prospects of these basins. The ongoing exploration activities in the Chad Basin is so far inspiring hope that NNPC may soon find oil in commercial volumes there. As part of the exploration drive, the Federal Government is set to approve the execution of an unprecedented comprehensive Hydrocarbon Mapping of Nigeria by the NNPC to enhance the efficient search for oil and gas across all the inland basins.

Speaking in Abuja recently, the General Manager, Group Public Affairs of the NNPC, Levi Ajuonuma said the comprehensive hydrocarbon mapping project which would be the first in the over 100 years history of crude oil exploration in the country is designed to guarantee precision and exactitude in the evaluation of data in the course of exploration of the inland basins.

“I want to tell you that the drive by the current NNPC management under the watch of Austen Oniwon to increase the nation’s crude oil reserve is in top gear and we have the complete support of President Jonathan and the Minister of Petroleum Resources to go full throttle.

The idea is to look beyond the prolific Niger Delta Basin and extend the search to some other basins with good sedimentation and robust tectonic history,’’ he said.

The Anambra Basin could be said to be lying second behind the Niger Delta in terms of its gas potentials. Initial exploration activities conducted by Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd (now TotalfinaElf) found this resource in several wells. One wonders why the company had to relinquish the concessions and terminate exploration activities. Despite that, nine blocks from the basin were offered for bidding during the 2007 licensing round. And in 2008, a company incorporated in Nigeria, Global Energy Company, began exploring for gas in the Basin. The nine blocks on offer in 2007 were estimated to contain gas resources in excess of five trillion cubic feet.

Though the potential of hydrocarbon deposits in Benue trough, Bida, and Sokoto basins could be said to be promising, current information on these basins are grossly inadequate and this is mainly due to the fact that outdated equipment and techniques were used for the studies carried out in the past. There is the need for the NNPC to take advantage of modern available geological techniques in the exploration of these basins.

Regarding the issue of exploiting new technologies to the maximum, lessons should be learnt from how the IOCs are rising to the challenge of growing world oil demand. They are unlocking previously unreachable deepwater oil and gas deposits in high risk areas, like the ultra deep frontiers with cutting edge technology. Without technological advances these expeditions would not have been possible.

Exploration of the inland basins is worth given a push. Commercial finds will increase the country’s reserves and boost producibility. All these will have economic and strategic benefits for the country. 

NNPC Intensifies Search in Inland Basins

Anthony Uche

In the past couple of months the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has intensified the search for commercial hydrocarbon deposits in Nigeria’s inland basins. This follows directive from President Goodluck Jonathan to the corporation on to put more zest into frontier exploration. The directive is in line with his administration’s aspiration to achieve increased crude oil production capacity and bolster the country’s reserve of oil and gas from its current level of 37 billion barrels, and about 187 trillion cubic feet, tcf, of gas.

Leading the charge for exploration in these basins is the NNPC’s new exploration services division, the National Frontier Exploration Service, NFES, which is an arm of the corporation formed for the purpose of regulating and stimulating petroleum exploration activities in unassigned frontiers beyond the currently producing onshore Niger Delta and deep water basins. Already preliminary work on seismic data acquisition and processing has begun, with over 3,000 sq km of 3-D seismic data acquired for processing, and interpretation in addition to the 6000km of 2-D data that is currently being reprocessed.

The acreages which are located in the Anambra, Benue trough, Bida, Chad, and Sokoto basins, have all been explored by the international oil companies, IOCs, in the past with no success recorded. Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, TotalfinaElf, ExxonMobil and Chevron Nigeria Limited, among others, had acquired and explored acreages within the basins between 1994 and 1998, with the hope of  hacking to deep oil deposits, but all the efforts ended up in what industry operators call “dry holes,” after enormous resources had been expended. The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, the upstream subsidiary of NNPC, has also lost billions of naira in previous futile efforts.

NNPC remains hopeful of hitting oil in these basins. This is hinged on its belief that available new technologies would yield results where previous exploratory efforts have failed. Also oil discoveries in commercial quantities in basins located in countries like Chad, Niger republic and Sudan, with similar geological formations, have continued to make the NNPC hopeful. Discoveries made in Doba, Doseo, and Bongor in Chad all have the potential of over 2 billion barrels, bbls, oil reserve, and Termit-Agadem Basin in Niger republic has the potential to hold over 1bbls of oil reserve.

“The assignment we are undertaking here is very critical. The whole nation is looking up to us to prove once and for all that there are indeed commercial hydrocarbon deposits on the Nigerian side of the Chad Basin and other inland basins. We need to bell the cat, by going to the frontier areas to develop them and prove to the world that there is commercial hydrocarbon and then invite other people to come and join us” Austen Oniwon, Group Managing Director, GMD, of NNPC remarked recently.

This brings one to the prospects of these basins. The ongoing exploration activities in the Chad Basin is so far inspiring hope that NNPC may soon find oil in commercial volumes there. As part of the exploration drive, the Federal Government is set to approve the execution of an unprecedented comprehensive Hydrocarbon Mapping of Nigeria by the NNPC to enhance the efficient search for oil and gas across all the inland basins.

Speaking in Abuja recently, the General Manager, Group Public Affairs of the NNPC, Levi Ajuonuma said the comprehensive hydrocarbon mapping project which would be the first in the over 100 years history of crude oil exploration in the country is designed to guarantee precision and exactitude in the evaluation of data in the course of exploration of the inland basins.

“I want to tell you that the drive by the current NNPC management under the watch of Austen Oniwon to increase the nation’s crude oil reserve is in top gear and we have the complete support of President Jonathan and the Minister of Petroleum Resources to go full throttle.

The idea is to look beyond the prolific Niger Delta Basin and extend the search to some other basins with good sedimentation and robust tectonic history,’’ he said.

The Anambra Basin could be said to be lying second behind the Niger Delta in terms of its gas potentials. Initial exploration activities conducted by Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd (now TotalfinaElf) found this resource in several wells. One wonders why the company had to relinquish the concessions and terminate exploration activities. Despite that, nine blocks from the basin were offered for bidding during the 2007 licensing round. And in 2008, a company incorporated in Nigeria, Global Energy Company, began exploring for gas in the Basin. The nine blocks on offer in 2007 were estimated to contain gas resources in excess of five trillion cubic feet.

Though the potential of hydrocarbon deposits in Benue trough, Bida, and Sokoto basins could be said to be promising, current information on these basins are grossly inadequate and this is mainly due to the fact that outdated equipment and techniques were used for the studies carried out in the past. There is the need for the NNPC to take advantage of modern available geological techniques in the exploration of these basins.

Regarding the issue of exploiting new technologies to the maximum, lessons should be learnt from how the IOCs are rising to the challenge of growing world oil demand. They are unlocking previously unreachable deepwater oil and gas deposits in high risk areas, like the ultra deep frontiers with cutting edge technology. Without technological advances these expeditions would not have been possible.

Exploration of the inland basins is worth given a push. Commercial finds will increase the country’s reserves and boost producibility. All these will have economic and strategic benefits for the country.