Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva says the Federal government will soon begin oil exploration in the Lake Chad Basin.
Sylva also said the relative peace in Borno state and the Lake Chad area informed the decision for the exploration and drilling activities.
The Minister disclosed this to journalists after meeting with the Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai at the headquarters of Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri on Thursday.
According to him, “As you may well know, we have found oil in Gombe and we believe that there is a lot of oil to be found in the Lake Chad Basin.
“We have seen a lot of prospects in the Chad Basin and we want to commence exploration and drilling activities and that’s why we are collaborating with the Nigerian Army to ensure that security is provided for activities to commence very soon,” he said.
He also sought the collaboration of the Chief of Army Staff in providing enough security to secure the installations and workers on the field.
“We want to commence exploration and drilling activities here because we believe that there is relative peace in the area enough for us to continue drilling activities in the northeast.
The Minister commended the sacrifice and gallantry of the Nigerian Army in the fight against insurgency in the Northeast.
Insurgents abducted five lecturers of the University of Maiduguri who went on oil discovery mission at Gajigana area of Borno.
One of them was killed, the others were freed later
