NNPC discovers 1bn barrel of crude oil in North East

So far, one billion barrels of crude oil have been discovered in the North-East, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva has said.

He made this revelation at the 2020 Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) which held in Abuja.

Sylva noted that the figures have helped the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation understand the geographical structure of the region. It also indicated that the North has become a new hub for discovering oil.

The minister expressed confidence in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill by June based on the cordial relationship between the legislature and the executive.

Sylva words: “Today Nigerians all agree that there is a need for us to pass the PIB. “For so long we have been quivering about the PIB, for more than 20 years. And for so long, we have not been able to attract a lot of investment into the oil sector.

“Let me give you an example, by the year 2002, our oil reserves stood at around 22 billion barrels. We were able to grow that reserve from 22 billion barrels to 37 billion barrels by 2007