Search for oil in north, right step, say experts

In spite of the huge sum and decades of years invested in prospecting for oil in the North of Nigeria, some petroleum experts have argued that the government is taking the right step in not relenting in its search for oil in that region.

To them, the quest to get crude oil is usually not achieved overnight. They, however, did not agree on the format government should adopt in the search for crude oil. While some agree that government should lead the way in terms of investing directly, others believe government should have had an arrangement with the private sector players.

While the Director, Emerald Energy Institute, University of Port Harcourt, Professor Wumi Iledare, said there is nothing wrong in the search, but urged government to explore private sector funding, Professor of Applied Geophysics, University of Ibadan, Olayinka, Abel Idowu, said finding crude oil in commercial quantity couldn’t be ruled out, as oil has also been found in the Chad basins.

On his part, Professor Joseph Ajienka, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, noted that by the time oil was discovered in Oloibiri in the early 50s, exploration had gone on all over the country for 50 years, right from a German company to Shell Darcy.

Ajienka stated that the issue is not whether they should continue to explore there, noting that areas people thought had no oil on the continent, oil and gas had been found there.