Part of the developments accompanying the oil mining projects at Kolmani oil field in Bauchi and Gombe states, North East Nigeria include Kolmani Integrated Development Project Phase I is reportedly going to include an in-situ oil refinery with a capacity of up to 120k barrels per day, a gas processing plant with a capacity of up to 500 million standard cubic feet per day, a power plant with a capacity of up to 300MW, and a fertiliser plant with a capacity of 2,500 tonnes per day
Bauchi and Gombe States are the locations of Oil Prospecting Leases (OPL) 809 and 810 at the Kolmani oil field sites.
Emminent politicians from the north have greeted President Muhammadu Buhari as he launched the first oil drilling operation in northern Nigeria.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday led eminent Nigerians from government and private sector drivers especially those that deal in oil and gas to witness the oil drilling project launch at Kolmani oil fields with the capacity to produce one billion barrels of crude oil and 500 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.
It was history made as His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, performed the ground-breaking ceremony of commercial oil drilling in the North.
It is history because for the first time a President has actualized a nearly 50 years dream of exploring oil in the northern part of the country. This would have been achieved many years ago if previous administration after Abacha had shown serious interest in the venture. However, the venture was abandoned in 2000 and we sadly watched the withdrawal of heavy exploration equipment claiming that the contract of exploration has finished.
The exploration would return years later but Boko Haram insurgency made it impossible to complete, with the killing of some University of Maiduguri staff who were working on the project. Finally, the jinx is broken with the impetus of the last three years in the border lands between Bauchi and Gombe. The up to a billion barrels of oil deposits earlier discovered is ripe for exploitation.
