Kolmani: The North East’s Ultimate Economic Elixir

Usually, most of this information is sitting out there on the Web, in libraries and in offices, especially in the oil and gas industry-related institutions. As for me, I had the rare opportunity of conversing with Bauchi with Dr. Bala Wunti for hours, and I couldn’t help but jab him with all the questions I could, as every hour that dragged by unveiled how remarkably cerebral the retired NNPC executive is in ‘real life’; away from the spotlight of his former office and its attendant and sometimes nauseating bureaucracies. I discovered so much about Kolmani 809 & 810, being different licenses, one on each side of Gombe and Bauchi state, divided by just a river, the Kolmani River. Geographically, they are located at two sites, but are essentially the same geological field or area.

The Bauchi/Gombe states’ bickering over who controls what was a sore point in the deliberations on the Kolmani Exploration and Investment. However, the efforts of our legislators, and captains of Industry like the late Maikanti Baru, and Dr Bala Wunti, as well as the NNDC establishment, prevailed on the two states to sheathe their swords and settle into having a prosperous conversation on the way forward for the wells and the ultimate economic boom therein.

Before I delve into more exciting details, I would like to say a big thank you to Mr President, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for renewing the 809 & 810 oil prospecting licenses held by the NNDC. These licenses were expiring and could have been revoked/reallocated. This was facilitated by the Petroleum Minister, Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri and of course, unsurprisingly, Bala Wunti, who was an integral part of this lobby. The previous administration of late Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) did a lot to actualise the two wells. Late Maikanti Baru, as GMD of the NNPC, pulled all the stops and secured the corporation’s commitment under the frontier exploration policy after years of speculation around the Kolmani Oil find. The exploration rights for the wells were awarded by President Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, to the NNDC (Northern Nigerian Development Company) in 2005. They were initially awarded to oil majors Shell and Chevron in the 90s, but were abandoned due to claims of non-commercial quantities of hydrocarbon deposits. NNPC’s frontier exploration services launched an aggressive 3D seismic data campaign, thereby identifying deeper, previously overlooked hydrocarbons. One of the experts who participated in the 90s exploration confessed to Bala Wunti that they abandoned the site not because of poor discoveries, but because the site was landlocked. The nearest seaport was over 700 km away. He also said that continued exploration activities would degrade the area’s vast agricultural and land resources, and possibly the best of the two states.

Evacuating the oil would cause additional environmental damage, in addition to the production costs, and it was not a worthwhile venture at the time. Nigeria was not desperately seeking or in need of more oil. I could deduce that it was left to lie low as a reserve for the future. “The future has come, and that future is today”, Wunti chimed excitedly. We all listened keenly as he spoke about the challenges of developing the wells and the economic benefits they offer the North East and the country as a whole. I kept sending questions his way, and the man kept answering like a university lecturer, with examples, detailed descriptions and a thorough navigation of the facts and figures related to the project.

Kolmani needs an investment of around 6 billion dollars to drill, refine, and distribute oil and gas from the landlocked site straddling Bauchi and Gombe states.  Natural gas reserves are estimated at 500 billion cubic feet, with crude oil reserves ranging from 1 to 19 billion barrels across the deeper basin. The proposed on-site refinery has a planned capacity of 120,000 barrels per day, with initial oil production pegged at 50,000 barrels per day. A 300MW gas-fired power plant would be built, providing power for the refinery and, among other things, a 2500 ton-per-day fertiliser production unit. An integrated oil complex, or integrated refinery, is the ideal model for the full exploration and development of the oil sites, which is the site’s main focus at present.

This integrated upstream-to-midstream project would obscure the costs and environmental degradation that would otherwise have been incurred if standard export pipelines spanning over 700 kilometres were constructed from the Inland basin to the Atlantic coast. These huge costs were the real factors that threw Shell/ Chevron off their game in the 90s at the first stage of exploration. This integrated facility has the potential to power and supply north-eastern Nigeria, as well as neighbouring countries of the Chad basin, upon completion.

I met Bala Wunti in his element. He exuded brilliance, knowledge, and a commitment to Bauchi State’s growth and development. He reeled off blueprints out of a book and spoke passionately about his vision for Bauchi. He is eager to give back to Bauchi all it has given him. He had seen it all from grass to grace, and he is therefore committed to the emancipation of the state. He attended public schools in Bauchi and began his career at NNPC, rising from the bottom to the topmost echelon of service. From the technical room through to the commercial head offices, to top management boardrooms, to meetings with the President of the United States, Joe Biden, when he was VP, Wunti has been there, done that. Today, in Nigeria, he has become one of the most versatile and accomplished public servants to have come from the oil industry. He is regarded as an industry expert and an internationally recognised personality in the oil world. Bauchi has long benefited from his philanthropy, which covers educational, religious, and social welfare interventions across the length and breadth of the state.

As one of the late aspirants to the APC gubernatorial ticket, he remains one of the party’s greatest assets presently. The vision he has for Bauchi would surely be useful to the current APC leadership in the state, ably led by Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, the Hon. Minister for Health and Social Welfare. Wunti will definitely be instrumental to the APC’s success come 2027.