With an estimated reserve of 42 billion barrels of Bitumen and the second-largest deposit in the world, Nigeria has no business importing Bitumen.
Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, stated this during a meeting with concessionaires who bidded in the first round of the Bitumen block process in Abuja.
Dr. Alake appealed to the 18 winners to work hard to develop Nigeria’s Bitumen deposits.
He also urged them to live up to expectations by complying with the terms of engagement and relevant sections of the mining act while taking cognizance of the host communities and soliciting their cooperation.
“With an estimated reserve of 42 billion barrels of Bitumen which is the second-largest deposit in the world, Nigeria has no business importing Bitumen; we should be a major net exporter to the rest of the world, and we have no choice but to make this a reality”.
Alake tasked the first-round of winners on good performance, which will serve as encouragement to prospective investors.
“We want to know, for instance, as you move forward, how much taxes you are paying, the royalties you are remitting, the local value addition that you are putting in place, the local employment generation or the multiplier effect, and then the impact on your host communities”.
“I will advise that you endeavor to engage your host communities and get their buy-in through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and other efforts you can make to ensure seamless operations, which will culminate in maximum beneficiation for you as investors, the communities, and the government,” the Minister added.
The Minister promised the support of the Federal Government for the Bitumen investors, stating that their success holds immense potential for economic growth and prosperity, heralding diversification of the economy.
In his remarks, the Director-General of the Mining Cadastral Office MCO,. Obadiah Nkom, revealed that there have been two unsuccessful attempts at concessioning Nigeria’s Bitumen blocks in 2002 and 2008.
He noted that following the latest successful bidding process, the MCO granted a total of thirty-four (34) Bitumen licenses, comprising eighteen (18) exploration licenses and sixteen (16) mining licenses.
The approval was granted after the minister’s approval and a final endorsement by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
In another development, Dr. Alake inaugurated two high-powered committees for the development of Bitumen.
The first is a ministerial committee chaired by the Director, General Mining Cadastral office, Obadiah Nkom, and a Technical Committee to monitor and evaluate Bitumen activities chaired by the Director, Mines Inspectorate of the Ministry, Imam Ganiyu.
The inauguration marks a pivotal moment in the nation’s journey towards harnessing its vast Bitumen resources.
The committees’ Terms of Reference (ToR) include making recommendations that will sanitize the Bitumen production environment, ensure that everything pertaining to operations in the sector is above board, advise the government on how to avoid the hiccups that plagued the oil industry, amongst others.
By Georgina Humphrey, Edited By Grace Namiji
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