The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced that it will intensify the processes that will lead to the exploration of oil in Sokoto State.

The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Maikanti Baro stated this when he received the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal when he paid a working visit to the corporation’s headquarters,  NNPC Towers in Abuja.

Baro disclosed that discussions were already ongoing with Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL) to award a contract for surface geochemistry, ground gravity and magnetics which are needed to determine whether hydrocarbons are available in the Sokoto Basin, and to formulate and integrate all data needed to understand the petroleum systems of the basin.

“We have been on the issue of exploration in the frontier basins and so far some measure of steps have been taken. We have already purchased aeromagnetic data and it’s being interpreted to determine the sedimentary thickness and the basin configuration,” Baro said.

He added: “Secondly, we have awarded a contract for the geological mapping of the basin and I am happy to state here that outcrop samples have been collected, mapped, analysed and geological modeling executed so as to ensure data integration.

He further disclosed that the NNPC will also carry out high resolution regional 2D seismic data acquisition which will enable it identify leads and prospects after which 3D seismic data acquisition will be employed.

In his reaction, Governor Tambuwal thanked the NNPC boss and invited the management of the corporation to a national conference on the Sokoto Basin being put together by the state government in collaboration with the Usman Danfodio University where international scholars are expected to make revealing presentations on the topic of oil exploration.