The Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, has said the Federal Government has no plan to increase the pump price of petrol.
It will be recalled that the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN), claimed there were plans to increase the pump price of petrol above the current N145.
But speaking with journalists at the pavilion of the NNPC during the on-going Kaduna Trade Fair on Thursday, Baru remarked that though it was not responsible for pricing, he was aware that President Muhammadu Buhari had said there will be no increment.
He also hinted that oil exploration in Northern Nigeria will continue, as this will enable the NNPC do a massive appraisal of the discovery of gas reserves made in 1999 in the region.
Baru noted that drilling has been going on smoothly and that as of Thursday morning, the corporation had dug 10,075 ft deep with a target to reach 14,270 ft exploration.
“The main purpose of this well is to start some massive appraisal of the discovery that was made way back in 1999 of some gas reserves in Kolmani River I and so far the drilling has been going on smoothly to enable exploration.
“Well, we will do the needful, if we need to probe any particular section we will take our time to do it, our target date is to see that by the end of May, we complete exploration on that particular well and move to Kolmani River III which site is almost ready for the rigs to move there and from there we move to other locations,” he said.