Objective of the Abia State Data Gathering Exercise

Abia State is one of the nine (9) oil and gas producing states in Nigeria and a member of the Niger Delta Oil and Gas Producing Region, under Niger-Delta Development Commission (Establishment etc) Act 2000 Act No 6 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. As a member of this elite club, the State has the sole responsibility, just like other sister states in the Region, to closely monitor and collaborate with the Federal Government and oil and gas producing and servicing companies within its boundaries  to ensure safe and environmentally friendly and healthy operations while also ensuring maximum benefits from these resources for the socioeconomic development and economic empowerment of its citizens, and especially those within the oil and gas producing communities of the state. 

Besides these statutory obligations, the state is also positioning itself as a strategic player in the oil and gas development in Nigeria by creating an enabling environment in partnership with the private sector to set up Nigeria’s first Industrial and Innovative Hub. It has therefore as part of that broad vision, commissioned this data gathering exercise to create a robust oil and gas digital database of the State’s vast oil and gas resources, operations, and development potentials. The State is also championing a global oil and gas free trade zone project with its investment partners that will provide the infrastructure needed for the development, industrialization, and commercialization of the total hydrocarbon value chain in Nigeria.

The economic benefits accruable from this exercise cannot therefore be overemphasized as it provides a deliberate and strategic roadmap for the State Government to position itself as the pioneer oil and gas industrial manufacturing, and innovative technologies hub in Nigeria, and by extension for the African continent. It is therefore our sincere hope that this report will help the State to channel its energy towards an aggressive development of its economy not only in the oil and gas sectors, but in all areas of the State economic endowments for the benefits of its citizens and particularly the teeming youthful population.