The Kolmani Integrated Development Project in the North-East, the first of its type in the region, was officially launched on Tuesday by President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to Buhari, the Kolmani River, which is located between the states of Gombe and Bauchi, has already attracted over $3 million in foreign direct investment and will improve Nigeria’s fortunes and income.
The project is anticipated to begin with a daily crude oil production of around 50,000 barrels.
Ahmad Lawan, the president of the Senate, Bola Tinubu, Timipre Slyva, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, and Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, all attended the ceremony.
Governors at the event include Simon Lalong (Plateau), Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), and Bala Mohammed (Bauchi).
Shehu Mai-Borno, group managing director of the New Nigeria Development Company, was also present.
Crude oil was discovered in the Kolmani River region at the border community between Bauchi and Gombe states in 2019, according to the NNPC.
The Frontier Exploration Fund (FEF) was subsequently established under Section 9 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which the President signed, with the allocation of 30% of the profit from NNPC’s upstream oil and gas contracts for the purpose of oil exploration in Kolmani as well as in Anambra, Dahomey, Bida, Chad, and the Benue Trough.