By; Mohammed Kawu, Bauchi
The Bauchi state government has reiterated its commitment towards providing all necessary support for the actualization of drilling at the Kolmani River Oil Well 2 at Barambu village in Alkaleri LGA of the state.
The reassurance came from the State Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Auwal Mohammed Jatau while speaking to journalists at the exploration site of Barambu village.
The Deputy Governor who led members of the Crude Oil Committee of the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC) to inspect the level of progress at the Kolmani oil well said that the state government will support the construction firms to effectively work at the site project.
Rt. Hon. Auwal Jatau also assured that Bauchi would work in close collaboration with the Federal Government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, and other stakeholders involved to see that oil drilling commence in earnest at the Kolmani 2 well.
According to the deputy governor, drilling at the integrated Kolmani oil field would greatly propel the economic development of Bauchi, its neighbouring states and the country at large.
“As a government, we have reassured the federal government that whoever is working here, be it a company or multilateral of our holistic support, be it security, social amenities or logistics”, he told the RMAFC delegation.
Deputy Governor Jatau recalled that the Bauchi state government has right from the day the idea of oil exploration at the Kolmani River was conceived, signified it’s readiness to venture into the black gold business.
The acting chairman, RMFAC Crude Oil Committee, Engr. Hassan Mahmoud has earlier said that the visit became necessary because of the potentiality of discovered crude oil deposits at Kolmani oil exploration site in Barambu village.
Engr. Mahmoud expressed confidence that the oil discovery would significantly contribute to the revenue pulse of the nation and bemoaned the delay in the actualisation of full-scale lifting of crude oil from the Kolmani integrated oil field ed years after its find.
He said, “We were thinking it wouldn’t take time like this for the proceeds from this location go to the purse of the federal government, and then the 13% derivation to the two states that own this place”.
“We were waiting, and then apparently, the waiting was too long, so we decided to write to the state governments that we wanted to visit the location to see for ourselves because it is always said that seeing is believing”.
The RMFAC delegation expressed dissatisfaction with the level of progress at the Kolmani oil well saying “We will sensitize the company at the site project to do more work”.
“Also, the Bauchi State Deputy Governor is here, they are going to go and discuss with the government, and to keep visiting this place until we can see the level of development that we are okay with”, Mahmoud vowed.
The representative of the construction firm, Sterling Global, Abdulhamid Aminu said however that the present efforts are being channelled to drilling two additional wells that would feed the already drilled PL809 and OPL810 before the lifting of crude oil from the site would commence.
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