Nigeria’s state-owned NNPC Ltd. is drilling ahead on a prospect in northern Nigeria that has reserve potential of 1 billion bbl, as the country seeks to produce crude outside the Niger Delta for the first time.
NNPC said in a statement that phase one of the Kolmani project in the northeast would have an oil refinery, gas processing unit, 300‑MW power plant, and a fertilizer plant producing 2,500 tonnes a day.
NNPC confirmed the discovery of crude oil, gas, and condensate in commercial quantity in the Kolmani area between Bauchi and Gombe states in northeastern Nigeria in 2019.
“It is therefore to the credit of this administration that at a time when there is near‑zero appetite for investment in fossil energy, coupled with the location challenges, we are able to attract investment of over $3 billion to this project,” Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said at a ceremony to start the oil project.
Nigeria has for years been searching for oil in frontier basins in the largely poor north of the country, including the Lake Chad Basin.