Ahmad Deedat Zakari
President Muhammadu Buhari said the Kolmani oil project has attracted over $3bn investment in the oil and gas sector at a time the world is unwilling to invest in fossil energy.
The President made the disclosure while flagging off the Kolmani Development Project in Bauchi on Tuesday. The president noted that his administration has done everything to de-risk the project and attract investors.
Buhari said:
“Considering the land locked location and the huge capital requirement, the economics of the project is a challenging proposition. Consequently, from the outset, I instructed NNPC Limited to utilize and leverage their vast asset portfolio across all corridors of its operations to de-risk the project to attract the much-needed investment.”
“It is therefore to the credit of this administration that at a time when there is near zero appetite for investment in fossil energy, coupled with the location challenges, we are able to attract investment of over USD 3 billion to this project.”
The President in his address also commended the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for their effort in discovering oil in the northern part of the country after so many futile attempts. He noted that the discovery foreshadows economic prosperity for Nigeria.
“This is indeed significant considering that, efforts to find commercial oil and gas outside the established Niger Delta Basin was attempted for many years without the desired outcomes,” he stated.
The Daily Reality had reported that the Kolmani oil exploration is the first of its kind in Northern Nigeria.