By David Okpashi
Nasarawa state governor, Abdullahi Sule has charged the newly inaugurated oil and gas Advisory and Technical committee to ensure that the state government and individuals (citizens) participate and invest in the oil project in Nasarawa state.
Governor Sule who gave the admonition during the inauguration of the committee in Lafia said the inauguration of the committee became imperative in view of the benefit the state and it’s people stand to reap from the oil exploration and exploitation.
“You must determine the Nasarawa State participation in the form of investment in the project through shareholding of government and individuals for the overall development of the state, to carry out other responsibilities as may be necessary, but ensuring the safety of this project.”, Sule stressed
Governor Abdullahi Sule said that the quantum of the reserve in Nasarawa State will further increase the national hydrocarbon reserves to about 50bn barrels while increasing the country’s oil production capacity to about 3m barrels per day
Governor Sule charged the committee to ensure the realization of the oil and gas potentials of the state
“Let me state here clearly that, we received a study that showed that the quantum of the reserve in Nasarawa State will further increase the national hydrocarbon reserves to about 50bn barrels while increasing the country’s oil production capacity to about 3m barrels per day”.
The governor while issuing a marching order to the newly inaugurated committee noted that a study has shown that the abundant hydrocarbon resources in Nasarawa state, if fully exploited, would increase the country’s oil reserves from 37.1bn barrelsto 50bn barrels adding that this will increase Nigeria’s oil production to 3m barrels per day.
He said the purpose of setting up the committee is to evolve measures toward collaboration with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and all other stakeholders, including development partners, for seamless implementation of the project and to ensure community participation.
According to governor Sule, it has become imperative for the state to set up this all-important committee in order to realize all the associated benefits of these projects which are in the areas of wealth creation, employment opportunities, revenue generation, and economic growth.
It would be recalled that the NNPCL carried out several exploratory activities in the state in 2010 that resulted in the discovery of abundant hydrocarbon deposits in Obi and Keana local government areas, following which former President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the sput -in of the Ebenyi-A oil well in Obi in March 2023.