Oil in the North: The Search of a Generation

Scientific studies have shown evidence of huge deposits of hydrocarbon in the Benue trough and the far north east of the country but almost 20 years after this discovery,  exploration had shown a minimal presence of crude oil as against gas. However, experts and NNPC insist that there is oil in the arid region, arguing that Chad and Niger republics, our immediate neighbours have discovered the liquid gold but neither the corporation nor any  major oil company has returned to almost 23 oil wells for several years. In  2005, the New Nigerian Development Company(NNDC) bided and got some oil licences and last year, it signed an MOU with Gasprom, a Russian oil firm and since then, little has been heard of the project. Is NNDC chasing a will-o-the wisp?

Politics, economics and geology define oil exploration and the search is sometimes  a wild goose chase. The north, for 16 years, has been going back and forth, prospecting for black gold between Chad basin and the Benue trough. The search, like a mirage, is proving elusive and New Nigerian Development Company(NNDC), the driving force, is humming  on the spot. Significantly, as Group Managing Director, Alhaji Ali Alkali rewired the search for oil in the north and NNDC, under his leadership, ran on full throttle, collating data, looking for financiers and technical partners. Last March, NNDC and Gasprom, a Russian oil firm, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and since then, mum has been the  word as Politics and lack of political will stall the project.
Alkali, before his demise, had reached out to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), European Development Bank and African Finance Corporation to access fund for the exploration. However, the lending agencies, according to a source, refused Alkali’s request because NNDC, as a development financing agency, is grossly under-capitalised and for that reason, it cannot access their window. Significantly, NNDC and northern Frontiers, an indigenous   firm, updated the data and wrote the northern governors, requesting for fund or approval to source elsewhere. The report, for several months, gathered dust as the governors dithered on the way forward. Finally, their excellencies agreed to give N5 billion and each state, irrespective of size, was expected to cough out N270 million, spread over 10 months. To date, according to reports, no state has paid a kobo and the project, since Alkali’s demise, is seemingly in limbo.
However, some NNDC top hats disagreed. The project, according to them, is alive and kicking as the Business Development department, in league with consultants, is carrying on from where Alkali stopped. In fact, one Makoji, an Abuja-based geologist, is the project’s arrow head and the technocrat as well as  the new management , a source told Weekly Trust, are looking for financiers, be they individuals, corporations or northern governors, to fund the project. Last Thursday, Weekly Trust visited NNDC but its enquiries were politely turned down. The officials insisted on a written letter requesting for information but incidentally, the history of oil exploration in the north  is an open book for all to glean.
Specifically, in the last three decades, the search has encountered several hiccups, arising from intrigues, obsolete equipment and lack of political will to follow it through. From the 1980s to 1990s, NNPC had surveyed over3,000sqm, drilled over 23 wells and spent about $1 billion without striking oil but a  huge gas reserve. The corporation, for a decade, criss-crossed the Chad basin, going from pillar to post, prospecting in vain. In the end, a small quantity was found but in frustration, the corporation abandoned  the treasure hunt but not without seismic data. Similarly, ELF, Chevron and Shell Exploration and Production Company drilled themselves to a standstill. In 1999, ELF and Chevron drilled 1,666 metres and 1,700  metres respectively at Kusari and Nasarawa 1 but found nothing. Consequently, NNPC and the multinationals left in a huff and their analogue technology and the huge capital required, terminated their search. However, studies and available data, according to reports, show the availability of hydrocarbon deposits in the north. Particularly, oil discovery in Chad, Ghana and Niger Republic lends credence to this assertion.
In Nigeria, the Chad basin and Benue trough are on a series of creataceous and inter rift basins, according to geologists, which accommodate hydro carbons. In Chad basin, experts argued that the existence of Kerogen, a rich non marine based Albian Alptian source rocks, suggests the availability of oil because Doba, a town in Chad republic, has a similar feature and oil is being pumped out from there. Similarly, the long stretch the cuts through Central African Republic, according to experts, is rich in hydrocarbon and Borno, Bauchi and Gombe states, as well as Yobe state are along that axis. In addition, the range of Total Organic Carbon, they also argued, is between 0.6% and 2.8% and in particular, the average for oil producing areas is 0.5%. In any case, both NNPC and the other prospectors, according to Mr A.U Mwaezeapu, an official of Direct Exploration Service, gave up  rather hastily and he cited the Ghanaian and  United States example. The US, he pointed out, drilled over 2,000 wells before it found oil. Similarly, for 20 years, Ghana drilled about 100 wells but NNPC and the multinationals drilled only 23  and abandoned Benue trough and Chad basin.
Either by accident or design,   the prospectors also used Niger Delta standard, whose sedimentary rock is 2,000 meters deep, for the north where the rock is  6,000 metres below sea level. The search, for this flawed assumption, was abandoned rather hastily in the north, according to Solomon Abaa, a professor at the Petroluem Development Fund Centre. Both NNPC and the companies, he further said, showed poor knowledge of the sub-surface geology of the Nigerian sector of Chad basin. The rock source, it development and petroleum system information, he pointed out were not factored in the search and for this reason, the exploration became fruitless . Specifically, they disregarded the terrain’s peculiarities and submitted  flawed work plans and  based on that data, the companies drilled 3,000 metres in north like in Niger Delta where they operate. In this regard, Professor Abaa queried  both NNPC and ministry of petroleum resources, arguing that if the geo-physical survey indicated 6,000 metres of sedimentary pile for the North East, why approve work programme allowing 3,000 metres of drilling by the companies? In addition, some experts read sabotage in the entire project because the exploration, for over ten years, had never been funded directly. The project, in lieu of a budget, was financed through virement from NAMPIMS internal funds.
In addition, Alhaji Mohammed Zarma, a Petroleum geologist, fingered  obsolete equipment as the bane of oil search in the north. The two-dimentional method of seismic data collection is not ideal for the venture because of its low precision, high chances of error and low resolution line that manually bends to produce seismic structures. Niger, Chad and Ghana, he pointed out, rejected this technology and embraced the latest system, including 3-D,3-C and 4-D. These systems, experts posit, analyse the data directly, showing structures for drilling.
Significantly, whether due to politics,  paucity of funds or  obsolete equipment , NNPC and the other oil majors  chickened out of the search as  oil prospecting is not for the  lily-livered. However, in August, 2005, NNDC took the plunge by participating in the Lincence sale and indicating interest in the Chad bsin and Benue troughs. In the former,  the corporation secured OPLS 722 and 733, as well as OPLS 809 and 810 in the Benue and paid $180,000 and $2,040 as statutory fees and signature bonuses respectively. NNDC, as development financing company, has never ventured into oil business, let alone the highly technical, capital intensive and long term venture but the corporation was determined to succeed in the oil exploration.
However, for three years, NNDC couldn’t access NNPC’s data on the oil blocs. Professor s Abaa and M.R Islam, in an interview  in 2008, lamented the lack of ``cooperation in exchanging geographical and technical data in the use of available equipment  and in the correlation of survey programmes and results in the country by NNPC.`` Engineer Ibrahim Ali, former minster of state for petroleum affairs, justified NNPC’s hoarding of relevant documents. The corporation, in order to get the data,  funded its oil search and it is only normal for customers to pay ``$200,000 for keys to the viewing room.``  NNDC, a source confided in Weekly Trust, paid through its nose but  the data  was somewhat scanty.
 On July 18, 2008, having scaled that hurdle, the company signed an MOU with AFC and according to the agreement,  20 megawatts of electricity will be generated from the gas of Benue trough by August 2010. Eight months later, NNDC signed another MOU with Gaprom as technical and financial partners. Last March, Alkali refused to expatiate on the MOU and the memorandum, one year after, is still as sketchy as when it was signed as details remain between file covers. Will NNDC succeed where others fail? This is a tough riddle to unravel.