Ogun State’s aspiration to become an oil-producing state is set to materialize as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) prepares to commence oil and gas exploration in the Gateway State.
On Friday, key stakeholders in the oil industry, including the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri; Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd, Osagie Okubor; Chief Executive of Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe; and Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari, visited Ogun State. They were warmly received by Governor Dapo Abiodun and his Deputy, Noimot Salako-Oyedele.
During their visit, Lokpobiri emphasized Ogun State’s long-standing inclusion in the Dahomey Basin, which has significant hydrocarbon potential. He stated, “We decided that we are going to resume exploration in the different Basins; we decided to come to Ogun State to reassure the people that we have very high potential of discoveries here. Our presence underscores the seriousness the federal government attaches to the exploration activities that we want to carry out in Ogun State.”
Lokpobiri also highlighted the critical role of oil and gas in Nigeria’s economic prosperity, noting that the visit aimed to demonstrate the federal government’s commitment to increasing revenue through the oil and gas sector. “Today we are here to tell the people of the federal government’s commitment to ensuring that we continue our campaign and exploration activities across the country. We are doing this exploration activities in several places across Nigeria and today we are in Ogun after which we will proceed to Sokoto State,” he added.
Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of NNPCL, assured that Ogun State, located in the Dahomey Basin corridor, is expected to have a high deposit of oil. He expressed confidence that exploration activities would commence earnestly and that oil would be found in commercial quantities.
Gbenga Komolafe, Executive Director of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, echoed this sentiment, stating that the team’s visit to Ogun State was to reinforce the federal government’s commitment to growing the oil reserves and enhancing federation revenue. “We all understand that Nigeria is very prolific in oil and gas, but then there is still need to grow the reserves through exploration activities given our huge hydro-carbon as a benchmark,” he noted.
Komolafe highlighted the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) for funding the development of Frontier Basins. He explained that the Nigerian Petroleum Regulatory Commission is collaborating with NNPCL to leverage the PIA to aggressively carry out oil exploration in the Dahomey Basin. “The Dahomey Basin stretches up to Delta, Edo, Ogun, and Ondo states. We intend to in the course of this exercise, cover all those states leveraging on the provision of Section 9, Subsection 4 of the PIA,” he added.
In response, Governor Abiodun expressed optimism about Ogun State’s potential as part of the Oil Prospecting Licenses (OPLs) 302, 303, 306, and 307. He highlighted the unique opportunities these acreages present for qualifying as a Frontier Exploration State under the PIA.
“The history and studies over the years allow any investment under the frontier exploration basin funding to not only realize the oil and gas potentials but also acquire data that would aid Bitumen exploration and exploitation in Nigeria,” Abiodun said. He noted that Nigeria holds the second-largest reserves of Bitumen in the world, at 42 billion tons, and emphasized the state’s potential for becoming a significant beneficiary of these resources.
Governor Abiodun further pointed out that Ogun State offers ease of access, low entry and operating costs, a safe community, and active state government support, making it an attractive location for exploration and production. “Ogun State therefore presents some unique opportunities towards the realization of the full intentions of the PIA section 9 on frontier exploration as it will contribute to guarantee additional petroleum production of additional petroleum products for the country and afford more supply to potential refineries in the area,” he stated.
The governor also highlighted the potential for Bitumen extraction, which could reduce import dependency and save foreign exchange expenditure. “As a low hanging result, this area also presents the opportunity for Bitumen extraction, thereby reducing import dependency and bringing with it savings in foreign exchange expenditure on this single line item,” he concluded.
