The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has received N318.05bn between January and August 2025 for frontier oil exploration, according to findings from documents of the September 2025 Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting obtained by The PUNCH.
The allocation represents 30 per cent of Production Sharing Contract (PSC) profits, which are automatically set aside each month for exploration in inland basins under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
The PIA established the Frontier Exploration Fund, mandating that part of NNPC’s PSC profits be channelled into oil search across under-explored basins, including Anambra, Bida, Dahomey, Sokoto, Chad, and Benue.
By regulation, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) manages the fund through an escrow account and is required to publish an annual Frontier Basin Exploration and Development Plan.
In July 2025, the NUPRC unveiled its latest plan, outlining seismic surveys, stress-field detection, data integration, and wildcat drilling across the targeted basins.
The plan also detailed specific projects, including logging and testing of the Eba-1 well in the Dahomey Basin, drilling of a new wildcat well in Bida, reappraisal of Wadi wells in Chad, and reassignment of the Ebeni-1 drilling in Benue.
