Nigeria finds crude oil in Lake Chad
We Should Be Able To authoritatively
Announce By December
Nigeria is “on the verge of a significant oil find” in
the Lake Chad area of the northeast, NNPC managing
director Ibe Kachikwu was quoted as saying in a
statement issued by the state oil company on
Sunday.
Kachikwu, who is to be sworn in to President
Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet on Wednesday and is
widely expected to become junior oil minister, also
said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) is projecting revenues of $20 billion in 2016.
Chad Basin
Africa’s biggest economy has been hammered by the
sharp drop in global oil prices, because it relies on
crude exports for around 70 percent of government
revenues.
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“There are signs from the latest 3D seismic studies
that oil may be very close to being found now in
Lake Chad,” Kachikwu was quoted as saying in a
statement issued by NNPC spokesman Ohi Alegbe.
“I am optimistic that by the end of the year we
should be able to announce something major on
this,” he said in a presentation in Lagos, according
to the statement.
Kachikwu was quoted as saying it would be
important to pass the long-delayed Petroleum
Industry Bill aimed at overhauling the oil sector, and
to encourage investment in the country’s oil and gas
industry.
“Kachikwu stated that the NNPC is projecting the
inflow of $20bn in 2016 to enable the corporation to
fund major projects,” said NNPC spokesman Alegbe.
Portfolios have yet to be assigned to the 36 cabinet
members chosen by Buhari, but analysts expect
Kachikwu to report to the president, who will
personally oversee the petroleum portfolio.