The sun sets behind a crude oil pump jack on a drill pad in the Permian Basin in Loving County
Reuters

The Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has announced that drilling for the first oil well in Obi/KeanaMalam Nasarawa State will begin on March 21.

Mele Kyari, the Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd., revealed the details Thursday while leading the company's executives on a courtesy visit to Gov. Abdullahi Sule in Lafia.

Kyari claims that NNPC started conducting exploration activities in 2010 and has formally discovered a petroleum environment in the state, Punch reported.

"We have seen a great potential for finding hydrocarbon in Nasarawa State and to confirm this, we are going to start drilling on March 21. We are very optimistic that it would be a successful exercise. It will not end there, once you find oil, you do further works to develop it not just for the benefit of the community around it but for Nasarawa State and the Country," he said, as reported by This Day Live.

The exploration will not be restricted to the current Obi/Keana site, Kyari noted. As soon as the company tests this prospect, it opens up additional avenues, and they have discovered other excellent opportunities around the State. "This will herald history and bring value to all of us," he added.

Kyari was upbeat about Nasarawa State benefiting greatly from the drilling of the oil well, known as "Ebenyi-A," which would be the first in the country's North Central region.

The CEO also expressed gratitude to the Nasarawa State government and people for their cooperation and support thus far and urged continued assistance. He declared that whenever commercial quantities of oil were discovered, the corporation would continue to make every effort to immediately benefit the host community and, eventually, the entire society.

Sule cited instability as a significant obstacle to oil exploration in the nation and urged the state's residents to keep the peace and support the corporation for the project to be successful.

Retired Judge Muhammad Sidi-Bage, the Emir of Lafia, told the NNPC Ltd. in his speech that the people would give the project their full support in order for it to be successful.

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