The search for crude oil in the Northern part of the country may soon commence again, going by indications from Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF).

Earlier exploration efforts in the areas in 1999 and 2000 by some oil companies were unsuccessful.

Specifically, the current exercise would be focused on the Bauchi and Gombe axis of the Benue Trough. An earlier search had been conducted on the Lake Chad Basin.

Already, an on-the-spot assessment of the areas, has commenced by a team of geologists led by Emmanuel Ogezi, who said that preliminary study of the entire trough, made up of Kolmani I and II, will take up to one year, depending on the availability of funds, even as he expressed confidence that at the end of the day, a detailed result, "which will direct the way to go, will be done, unlike the previous exercise, which was done in a hurry."

Ogezi, a professor of geology, added that the detailed geological survey is required, so that what is currently happening in the Niger Delta area, which has led to gas flaring, will be avoided in the new areas, as proper technical and geological arrangements were not made on what to do with gas that normally comes with oil exploration.

According to him, multinational oil and gas companies have drilled a number of oil wells in the Benue Trough, especially three in the Upper Northern Benue part, adding that at least five documented in the Southern Lower Benue and several tests in the adjoining Anambra Basin, with their vocational and geographical data, were being accessed with great difficulty.

Ogezi expressed confidence that when accessed, regional and local geological fieldwork, remote sensing, GIS, structural, geophysical and geo-chemical tests would be gathered and interpreted in order to assess overall oil and gas mineral and environmental resources potential of the areas, which he said, will also aid the understanding of current environmental, hydropower, geo-tourism, forestry and groundwater resources of the entire area.

Such exercise, he said, will in turn, facilitate Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and future environmental liability issues of the areas for planning and socio-economic development in the trough.

Shell, Elf and Chevron had prospected for oil and gas in the areas in the 1990s and abandoned the exercise, saying that the oil and gas there were not in commercial quantities, as studies showed that Kolmani River I well, which was dug by Shell to 3000 metres depth in 1999, had sub-economic oil and gas, while Nasara I drilled to 1700 metres by Chevron in 2000, was a dry well, just as the Kuzari I, located in Gombe State, which was drilled to 1666 metres by Elf in 1999, had wet gas.