President Buhari orders NNPC to commence oil & gas exploration in Benue Trough
According to a statement by the Group Managing Director of the
NNPC, Mr. Maikaniti Baru, disclosed this while receiving a delegation
from the Benue State Government, who paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.
This is coming few days after the same directive was given to the NNPC to intensify crude oil exploration in the Chad basin.
The Benue Trough is a major geological formation underlying a large
part of Nigeria, extending about 1,000 kilometer north-east from the
Bight of Benin to Lake Chad. It is part of the broader Central African
Rift System.
The GMD stated that the directive to commence exploratory activities in
the Benue Trough was part of efforts to guarantee energy security of the
country.
In addition, the NNPC also stated that it has reinvigorated its
collaboration with the Benue State Government on the Ethanol project
which is geared towards production of biofuels for energy sufficiency.
Baru noted that ethanol when blended with Premium Motor Spirit, PMS,
otherwise known as petrol, ensures excellent performance of vehicles,
stressing that energy sufficiency and proficiency were part of the
cardinal objectives of the NNPC.
The NNPC added that it has initiated a renewable energy programme in
August 2005 which is in conformity with the Kyoto Protocol agreement to
which Nigeria is a signatory.
The primary aim of the programme, according to the NNPC, is to link
the agricultural sector with the oil and gas industry, adding that it is
also targeted at gradually reducing the nation’s dependence on imported
gasoline, reducing environmental pollution as a result of consumption
of wholesale fossil fuel as well as creating a commercially viable
industry that can boast of sustainable domestic jobs.
“A similar programme in Brazil has a thriving biofuels industry
providing quantum economic benefits including creation of hundreds of
thousands of employment opportunities for nationals of that country,”
the NNPC noted.
Also speaking, leader of the Benue State delegation, Mr. Terwase
Orbunde, commended the NNPC for resolving the recent fuel supply
challenges and pledged the readiness of the state government to support
the quick take-off of the Ethanol project, adding that the project would
generate jobs for Nigerians.
Orbunde assured the NNPC of full support and cooperation from the
State Government and the host communities, stressing that the State
Government fully identifies with the energy policy of the Federal
Government.
The Benue trough, according to Wikipedia, has its southern limit at
the northern boundary of the Niger Delta, where it dips down and is
overlaid with Tertiary and more recent sediments. It extends in a
northeasterly direction to the Chad Basin, and is about 150 kilometer
wide.
The trough is arbitrarily divided into lower, middle and upper
regions, and the upper region is further divided into the Gongola and
Yola arms.
The Anambra Basin in the west of the lower region is more recent than
the rest of the trough, being formed during a later period of
compression, but is considered part of the formation.
