The Kogi State government has begun the process of securing investors for the state’s oil and gas exploration.
This was the outcome of a meeting earlier this week between Governor Usman Ododo, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, to discuss future oil and gas exploration in the state.
Special Adviser on Media to the Governor, Ismaila Isah disclosed in a statement that the meeting, which took place at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, focused on strategic steps to attract investment and technical support for the development of the state’s hydrocarbon deposits by taking advantage of the frontier basin exploration fund domiciled with the NUPRC.
Governor Ododo expressed the State’s readiness to collaborate with relevant federal agencies and stakeholders in harnessing its natural resources to drive economic growth through the exploration and development of the state’s oil and gas assets.
He noted that strategic steps taken by the state government including enactment of the law establishing the Oil Producing Area Development Commission and engagement with relevant agencies of the federal government and other partners are necessary to ensure that stakeholders are involved in the process of developing the state’s oil and gas resources in the best interest of the people and prospective investors.
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Governor Ododo had in October 2024 expressed commitment to providing enabling environment for investors and their investments in the exploration of petroleum resources in the state when he paid a working visit to the minister.
On his part, the minister of state for petroleum resources (oil) Senator Heineken Lokpobiri reaffirmed the status of Kogi as an oil producing state and restated the support of the federal government towards mobilizing investments to explore oil and gas assets in Kogi State.
The Petroleum Industry Act mandates the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to explore frontier basins and deploy funds to unlock new discoveries and exploration of oil in Nigeria.
Kogi State became the first oil producing state in Northern Nigeria following the affirmation of the discovery of oil in commercial quantities by the federal government in 2022.
