Northern Nigeria Development Company (NNDC) on Friday said it would begin oil and gas exploration in the north-east in the first quarter of 2016.
Chairman of NNDC, Bashir Dalhatu, stated this while briefing newsmen at NNDC’s 47th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Kaduna.
He said NNDC was collaborating with its technical partners and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), on the expertise and budgetary requirements for the take-off of the project.
The company’s Group Managing Director (GMD), Ahmed Musa, further said NNDC could not commence the project as earlier planned due to the security situation in the region. Musa said NNDC was also previously constrained by financing.
Musa however said the NNDC would open the exploration in the four oil block s allocated to it in the Lake Chad Basin, while plans were underway to acquire four more oil blocks in the region.