By Anietie Akpan, Pillar Today
Over 30 oil wells capped about 65 years ago by Shell Petroleum in Mbiabo Ikot Offiong community in Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State have been identified.
The Clan Head of Mbiabo Ikot Offiong, Etubom Nya Asuquo told Pillar Today that “in the late fifties, Shell did some exploration work in our community and they buried about 30 exploration wells on our land. After they concluded work on the wells, they did what is known as 2-d seismic and found out that the oil well there contained a lot of gas but less oil.
“In the fifties, everybody was looking for oil and not gas and because there was more gas than oil in that field, they left it. Today, gas is more preferable and wanted all over the world than crude oil”.
Etubom Asuquo, the immediate past Nigerian Ambassador to Uganda stated, “over the past eight years, I have been working to make sure that Cross River State becomes an oil producing state again. I have been working on it and I identified two oil fields in Cross River State, which I registered in what is now called NUPRC (a Federal Government entity that registers and gives licence for oil exploration). I registered two oil fields in the Nigerian Oil Concession Map in 2018 and the two oil fields I registered were OPL 2020, which is the oil field established in Ikot Offiong territory and OPL 2021 which spans from Adiabo towards Akpabuyo. People do not know the genesis of the fight between Ikot Offiong and Oku Iboku. The fight is as a result of the oil field that we have”.
In view of this, Etubom Asuquo called on the Federal Government to urgently give an approval for exploration to commence in its two oil wells to boost the financial base of the state.
He said, “We have registered that oil field and I have been in discussions with our state governor, that he should take over the matter from where I have reached to the next level and that is for him to get Federal Government to allocate those oil fields to companies because it is only the Federal Government that has that power to allocate oil fields to companies for exploration.
“I am informed that the state government has been working assiduously to achieving that, so I can assure you that I have registered two oil fields in Cross River State with the Nigerian Oil Concession Map and have named them OPL 2020 and OPL 2021 and we are now waiting for the Federal government to allocate them so that work can start”.
He said, “In the oil field that we have, which is OPL 2020, there is a lot of gas in it and gas is looked for in all parts of the world now. Somebody came all the way from Ukraine to have a meeting with me in my house last week because they are interested in the gas that is there and like I said, the governor is doing a lot in Abuja to get the field allocated and I tell people it is that field that would give Cross River State all the money they require for development because all developed countries are looking for gas”.
The Youth Leader of Mbiabo Ikot Offiong, Asuquo Asuquo Joseph joined in calling for Federal Government’s intervention.