Stakeholders in the oil and gas industry are urging the Federal Government to constitute a technical committee to look into the face off between Anambra and Kogi states, over the ownership of oil wells located on Oil Prospecting Licence OPL 915 in the Anambra Basin.

However, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) it is understood, would make a clarification on the issue very soon, to douse tensions over the ownership of the wells.

A senior industry source told BusinessDay that it was the responsibility of the National Boundary Commission to look at the issues and state clearly, the location of the wells and in which state territory they belong.

Seye Fadahunsi, director Pillar Oil, said that there should be no controversy because the locations of the wells are clearly demarcated.

Fadahunsi added that the Anambra oil well 1,2,3 being operated by Orient Petroleum Resources, though located on Oil Prospecting Lease OPL 915 which both Kogi and Anambra share , substantially falls inside Anambra state’s territory. The area is geologically regarded as Anambra Basin, he said.

He however stated that if further subsurface activities were carried out on the field and it was discovered that many of the pool of reserves extended to the Kogi area, then there could be an amicable arrangement on how to share the resources.

Another industry source told BusinessDay that until there is subsurface mapping of the field, nobody could really lay claim to the wells. He said it was possible that the reserve could spread to the Kogi area of the field, which is about 50 percent of the OPL 915. Subsurface data interpretation he said, would lay to rest any claim on that area.

Austin Avuru, managing director of Platform Petroleum Limited, said all those laying claims to the field were acting in ignorance. He asked, “are they fighting over the field or the wells?.

“Everybody is talking out of ignorance. It is the fields that people are fighting for. There is no point doing that”.

He said it was good to test a well but that those others things that give a field a production status, such as flow stations , evacuation pipelines to the terminals may not be available.

However, the Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Yomi Awoniyi has urged the Federal Government to release all the reports of the Boundary Commission, as this would put to rest, claims and counter claims over the issue, by various communities in the area.

Geographically, the Anambra Basin literally sits on top (north) of the Niger Delta and like the Niger Delta, cuts across several states, including Anambra,Benue, Delta, Edo, Enugu and Kogi. The basin, also like the Niger Delta, has been divided into blocks and awarded to various companies with work commitments enshrined in the various agreements signed. That of OPRL is a Sole-Risk Agreement with a commitment to build a refinery.

OPL 915 lies across the states of Anambra, Edo, Enugu and Kogi, with about 50 percent of the block in Kogi, while the remaining states share the other 50 percent. There are four wells drilled on the block by Elf Petroleum – Anambra River-1 in 1967, Anambra River-2 and 3 drilled later in 1984. The company in 1985 drilled Oda River-1. The three Anambra River wells are located in the Anambra State part of the block, while Oda River-1 was drilled in Kogi State. No wells have been drilled in the territories of Edo or Enugu States.

OPL 916, on the other hand, is located immediately south of OPL 915 and covers Anambra, Edo, Delta and Kogi states, with about 80 percent of the block in Anambra State. Like OPL 915, the block has four wells drilled – Nzam-1 (1954) and Alo-1 (1976) both by Shell, while Elf drilled both Okpo-1 and Iji-1 in 1985. According to reports, Alo-1 found gas, while others have ‘dry’ reported as their current status. All wells except Iji-1 are located inside Anambra State. Iji-1 is in Delta State.

The present controversy is caused by the attraction of the 13 percent derivation fund that will start accruing to Anambra State as an oil and gas producing state. If the Anambra River field is entirely situated inside the territory of Anambra State (and this can only be revealed by the seismic data currently being acquired, and new wells that will follow), then all of the benefits will go to the state. On the other hand, if it extends across the state’s boundary, then some aggregation of reserves on both sides will be used as basis to determine what belongs to each state.

It is therefore not surprising that Kogi and Enugu states have started laying claim to the resources in OPLs 915 and 916.

The director of the Department of Petroleum Resources said there was no need for the controversy generated over the Anambra River oil wells. Speaking to BusinessDay, Osten Olorunisola said the wells in question were not new wells, as they were drilled in 1969 by ELF, and abandoned. Olorunisola said out of the three wells that were drilled, only one was producing.

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/news/76-hot-topic/44854-experts-want-technical-committee-on-anambra-kogi-oil-dispute

Another onye Yoruba has spoken.

Results so far cannot point to the true ownership.

chino11: Another onye Yoruba has spoken.

Simply because they have the best knowledge of the industry and the accompanying technical know how.

Go and ask Shell..Chevron...Exxon Mobil and other reputable upstream Oil & Gas coys while Ife graduates are always their hot favorites.

You can dispute it as much as you want, but that does not remove the fact.

Shattap..you mean half-baked ife-manu or Yoruba graduates..? They are full of amala and ewedo shytes

ilugunboy:

Simply because they have the best knowledge of the industry and the accompanying technical know how.

Go and ask Shell..Chevron...Exxon Mobil and other reputable upstream Oil & Gas coys while Ife graduates are always their hot favorites.

You can dispute it as much as you want, but that does not remove the fact.

Oboy this is when u Tribalistic wackos manipulate employment in Lagos and filled vacancies with incompetent ofemmanus, even those who speak only yoruba are employed in HR. Anyway things have changed and those old crooks are retiring, Uniport and Futo graduates are taking over.

CHESSBOARD:

Oboy this is when u Tribalistic wackos manipulate employment in Lagos and filled vacancies with incompetent ofemmanus, even those who speak only yoruba are employed in HR. Anyway things have changed and those old crooks are retiring, Uniport and Futo graduates are taking over.

Don't mind the AMALA infested people..

CHESSBOARD:

Oboy this is when u Tribalistic wackos manipulate employment in Lagos and filled vacancies with incompetent ofemmanus, even those who speak only yoruba are employed in HR. Anyway things have changed and those old crooks are retiring, Uniport and Futo graduates are taking over.

Well maybe they are taking over in Orient Petroleum and other upstart but definitely not in well established and merit driven organisations in the upstream environment.

Those same tribalistic (let me borrow your English) wackos are presently filling up your quota in the system-network group of most Telecoms coys today, while your graduates are either planning evil against unsuspecting, innocent and over trusting young girls or kidnapping your Kings and rich folks all over the East.

It will take those your FUTO and Uniport Graduates decades to work their way up....in the meantime you are stuck with those Ofemmmanu guys that are still be churn out in thousands by that reputable institution.

chino11: Shattap..you mean half-baked ife-manu or Yoruba graduates..? They are full of amala and ewedo shytes

In other words J I Odumodu and so many others of his ilk ( a first class IFE Alumni) are shtye graduates?

Your ignorance is in infinity.

chino11: Another onye Yoruba has spoken.

This must be a farce since it was asserted by an Yoruba. I don't believe it, it's a bloody lie! Ofemannus are liars!!

I suppose that now, we can be safe in the knowledge that indeed, the oil well belongs to Kogi.

ilugunboy:

Well maybe they are taking over in Orient Petroleum and other upstart but definitely not in well established and merit driven organisations in the upstream environment.

Those same tribalistic (let me borrow your English) wackos are presently filling up your quota in the system-network group of most Telecoms coys today, while your graduates are either planning evil against unsuspecting, innocent and over trusting young girls or kidnapping your Kings and rich folks all over the East.

It will take those your FUTO and Uniport Graduates decades to work their way up....in the meantime you are stuck with those Ofemmmanu guys that are still be churn out in thousands by that reputable institution.



In other words J I Odumodu and so many others of his ilk ( a first class IFE Alumni) are shtye graduates?

Your ignorance is in infinity.

I get am before no be property..

You YOROBBERS has since lost out in economic scheme of things as far this country is concerned. If you want us to check list of heads and top staff of oil and gas company in this country we can do that to show you that yorobbers are completely out of economic circle. That is why poverty level in the SW is highest in the recent past. University graduates from your so called universities cannot even stand a graduate of UNIZIK in a test..


YO

chino11:

I get am before no be property..

You YOROBBERS has since lost out in economic scheme of things as far this country is concerned. If you want us to check list of heads and top staff of oil and gas company in this country we can do that to show you that yorobbers are completely out of economic circle. That is why poverty level in the SW is highest in the recent past. University graduates from your so called universities cannot even stand a graduate of UNIZIK in a test..


YO

Obviously you are a resident of La la Land.

Like I said, ignorance is a bliss...enjoy it.

The oil belongs to the North..shame on Anambra

Hmmmmm

muktarl: The oil belongs to the North..shame on Anambra

wetn u smoke today

bashr8: wetn u smoke today

The same thing you guys smoke when you say Yorubas can't be trusted and are betrayers yet so quick to accept their validation when it pays your backsides.

Hypocritical lot!

Desola:

The same thing you guys smoke when you say Yorubas can't be trusted and are betrayers yet so quick to accept their validation when it pays your backsides.

Hypocritical lot!

who accepts yoruba validating ? we have explained this to you people over a million times , igwe of aguleri have explained it with proof and previous court casses on the matter , emeka anyaoku have explained it over and over again , if anything i think nigerians are slow and shallow.

Nigerians always want to fight and kill themselves over a tiny cake,instead of working together to bake a bigger cake. I would advise that instead of wasting so much energy on this oil block,
Kogi should invest that energy to exploit the oil in the blocks OPL 901 and 902 known to have substantial oil deposit and located well inside Kogi.
Enugu should invest in OPL 905,OPL 907 and OPL 914 known to contain both oil and and enormous quantity of gas.

muktarl: The oil belongs to the North..shame on Anambra

who is taking about north here.....revenue from oil producing state is not of regional benefit like u thought.

Simply because they have the best knowledge of the industry and the accompanying technical know how.

Go and ask Shell..Chevron...Exxon Mobil and other reputable upstream Oil & Gas coys while Ife graduates are always their hot favorites.

You can dispute it as much as you want, but that does not remove the fact.

You've spoken very well!