…NNPC GMD debunks oil discovery in Niger State

THE Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has debunked claim by the Niger State government that oil has been discovered in the Bida Basin as it was being speculated in some sections of the media.

Disclosing this  on Saturday, after he was conferred the honorary fellowship award by the state-owned Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU),  Lapai, as part of the activities to mark the second combined convocation ceremony of the university, was   the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, who declared that it was only the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) that can make such categorical  pronouncement.

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According to him “NNPC recognises that Bida basin exploration was in the fourth stage of these activities. Hence, it is important to state that efforts have not advanced to the level of declaring discoveries talk-less of claiming that the oil and gas present is in commercial quantity.

“It is imperative to state that even after commercial discovery of hydrocarbons, it is pertinent that pronouncements can be only made after due validation of claims by the industry regulator (DPR),” he said.

It could however  be recalled that the Niger state Commissioner for Mineral Resources, Hajiya Rahamatu Mohammed Yar’adua had stated recently  in Minna the Niger State capital  in a statement titled, “The Bida Basin Project: The Correct Narrative” that shale samples from shallow wells dug by the consultant confirmed the availability of hydrocarbon in the Bida basin.