On Tuesday, November 21, 2022, Nigeria started drilling for oil and gas in the north-east of the country. This is a first for the African oil giant, which has been exploiting significant deposits in the Niger Delta for decades but whose production is constantly declining.

In order to inaugurate the drilling site, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari went to the Kolmani field. He said in a statement that “efforts to find commercial oil and gas outside the Niger Delta basin have been in vain for many years (...) But the discovery of the Kolmani oil and gas field broke that curse.”

Also in this presidential press release, aside from drilling, this oil project, which has attracted $3 billion in investments, aims to open an oil refinery, a power plant and a gas processing unit. Similarly, the President of Nigeria called on the National Oil Campaign (NNPC) and the project partners to “ensure that lessons learned from years of experience as an oil-producing nation are used to ensure harmonious relationships with local communities.”