Overview#
Bauchi is the state that, in October 2022, ended Nigeria's 60-year search for commercial hydrocarbons in the Upper Benue (inland) basin — President Buhari personally turned the valve at Kolmani River-II to mark first oil and gas from the basin. Beyond Kolmani, Bauchi holds tin and columbite tailings on the Jos-Plateau eastern margin, gypsum at Tongo and Gombe Sub-basin coal.
Geology & Deposits#
Kolmani River oil & gas (OPLs 809 & 810). Joint NNPC-NEPL / New Nigeria Development Company (NNDC) / Sterling Global venture. 1 billion barrels of oil reserves and 500 bcf of gas declared by NNPC on 11 October 2022 at the Kolmani-II well. Reservoir: Lower Cretaceous Bima sandstones. Coal. Lamja, Garin Maiganga (Gombe Sub-basin) — Mamu formation, used for the Ashaka cement plant. Gypsum. Tongo, Misau — feedstock for the cement industry. Cassiterite & columbite. Granitic tailings around Bauchi town — late stages of the Jos Plateau tin belt.
Operators & Output#
- NNPC E&P Ltd (NEPL) — operator of OPLs 809/810 (Kolmani). - New Nigeria Development Company (NNDC) — 19 northern states' jointly-owned holding company. - Sterling Global Oil Resources — minority. - Ashaka Cement (Lafarge) — captive coal mine at Maiganga.
Output: first oil 2024 from Kolmani; the integrated plant (50,000 bpd refinery + 500 mmscf/d gas processing + 300 MW power) is in construction.
Host-Community & Revenue#
The Kolmani axis sits on the Bauchi-Gombe border, raising the same boundary-revenue question that has shadowed Bayelsa-Rivers since 1996 — both states have asserted claim. The Petroleum Industry Act 2021 Host Communities Development Trust framework was the basis for the 2022 community engagement at Kolmani; the 3% HCDT cheque will be the first of its kind in the north.
Current Status#
Producing/commissioning: Kolmani integrated plant. Operating: Maiganga coal–Ashaka cement chain. Dormant: artisanal tin tailings.
References
Sources#
- NNPC public communiqué, 11 October 2022 — Kolmani-II declaration of commerciality.
- Petroleum Industry Act 2021, §234–245 (HCDT).
- NNDC annual report.