Lagos officially oil producing state, says Ambode

With the commencement of crude oil production in Badagry Local Government by Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Co. Ltd and by the virtue of the provision of Section 162, Sub-Section 2 of Nigerian Constitution, Lagos State has become an oil producing State.

The declaration was made in Lagos on Monday by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode when the management of the company led by the Group Managing Director, Mr Tunde Folawiyo paid him a courtesy visit at the Lagos House.

“Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Co. Ltd (YFP) is pleased to announce that it has commenced production of crude oil from its Aje field located in block OML 113 offshore Lagos,” the company said on Monday, May 3, 2016.

The Aje oil field lies 25 km from the coast in western Nigeria, on the border with Benin. It is situated 64 km from Lagos and is 12 kilometres away from the West Africa Gas Pipeline (12 km away).

It is located in the Dahomey Embayment of southwestern Nigeria, which is the eastern end of the Cretaceous Benin Basin of West Africa. Water depth across the field ranges from 99 metres to over 1,500 metres. The field is estimated to be one of the largest oil fields in Nigeria outside the Niger Delta basin.

Production began after more than 25 years of exploratory, appraisal and developmental activities in the field, making Lagos an oil-producing state.

Ambode lauded the company for its doggedness to achieve the feat after 25 years of hard work

He declared, “I want to thank you very much for this and I say it with all conviction because I know that based on section 162 Sub-Section 2 of the Nigeria Constitution, Lagos becomes an oil-producing state and by virtue of this, the 13 percent derivation that is due to oil producing states, Lagos will start to partake from it by your very good gesture. So we officially declare Lagos State as an oil producing state, we also notify the Federal Government by this action that we would be sharing out of the 13 percent derivation. So all we need do is to apply and then we join.”

The governor also said that the feat has not only placed Lagos in the history books as the first state outside the Niger Delta to become an oil-producing State but has also opened up a new page for revenue generation in the State.

“It also means that by the additional revenue that is coming from this action, we would have more resources to provide infrastructure for Lagosians and this is what we want other investors and businessmen to emulate, so that beyond the issue of profit, you are actually creating impact on people without them necessarily knowing that it is actually coming from a venture like this that you have embarked on,” he said.