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Frontier Exploration Fund allocations soar amid concerns over transparency, host community neglect
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Northern basins—Chad, Benue Trough, Kolmani—remain priority targets for exploration
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has channelled ₦235.6 billion into frontier oil exploration between January and July 2025, official records have shown.
The deductions, taken from the Frontier Exploration Fund (FEF) in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), represent 30% of Profit Sharing Contract (PSC) proceeds.
The funds were directed toward drilling and prospecting activities in the Chad Basin, Benue Trough, and Kolmani field in Bauchi and Gombe states.
NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, defended the heavy spending, telling the BBC Hausa Service that “exploration in the North remains a top priority. The government is on track with prospects for oil in the North.”
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Over the last two decades, more than $3 billion has reportedly been spent searching for oil in the North, with critics flagging issues of transparency, accountability, and environmental impacts.
The latest figures also highlight disparity in resource allocation. While host communities in the Niger Delta received ₦328.2 billion over four years from statutory allocations, the FEF got almost the same amount in just seven months.
