The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday said it would resume the exploration of crude oil in the Chad Basin, following the improvement of security in the North-east region of the country.

Group Managing Director, NNPC, Dr. Joseph Dawha, who disclosed this in a statement signed by Mr. Ohi Alegbe, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division and obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said NNPC was forced to suspend exploration in the region due to rising insecurity, stating that it planned to resume activities there in the next few days.

Dawha, stated this at the 21st Annual General Meeting of Integrated Data Services Nigeria Limited (IDSL), the NNPC subsidiary responsible for carrying out the seismic data acquisition in the country.

He said: “With the remarkably improved security situation in the North-eastern part of the country, the NNPC is to resume oil search in the Chad Basin.

“Preliminary indications from the previous exercise so far are encouraging and we are going to move back there.”

On the performance of IDSL, Dawha stated that in spite of the challenge of funding as a result of the fall in crude oil prices, the company’s performance was encouraging as it recorded a 32 per cent growth in its revenue.

Also speaking, Managing Director, IDSL, Mr. Victor Briggs said the company was expanding its operations outside Nigeria to neighbouring West African countries and other emerging oil producing countries in Africa.

Set up in 1988, IDSL is involved in the provision of seismic data acquisition, processing and interpretation, as well as petroleum and reservoir engineering data evaluation, computer and other ancillary services.