The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has pulled N235.6 billion from the Frontier Exploration Fund (FEF) within just seven months, fuelling fresh debates over the government’s push to discover oil in the North despite decades of failed attempts.
Financial documents show the deductions, made between January and July 2025, accounted for 30 per cent of Profit Sharing Contract (PSC) proceeds as provided under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). The money is being channelled into exploration in so-called frontier basins, including the Chad Basin, Benue Trough, and Anambra Basin, with northern sites taking priority.
The FEF was created to expand oil production beyond the Niger Delta, but the scale and speed of withdrawals have stirred controversy over transparency, long-term energy planning, and the political undertones of drilling in regions yet to produce commercially viable reserves.
In May, NNPCL confirmed plans to restart drilling in the North by June, with Group Chief Executive Officer Bayo Ojulari announcing that work would resume at the Kolmani field, which cuts across Bauchi and Gombe states.
Ojulari, appointed in April and endorsed by the Presidency as the “right choice” to reform the state oil giant, told the BBC Hausa Service that frontier exploration remained a top priority under the PIA.
“The government is on track with prospects for oil in the North,” he had stated.
Despite such optimism, oil search in the region has swallowed over $3 billion in the past two decades, producing little more than unverified claims of a one billion barrel reserve. Civil society groups and environmental advocates argue that the heavy investments ignore more urgent national needs and carry serious climate contradictions.
READ ALSO: Africa Must Develop Bankable Energy Projects — NNPCL Boss, Bayo Ojulari
Figures from NNPCL show erratic monthly deductions: N22.2 billion in January, N31.7 billion in February, N38.3 billion in March, and a peak of N61.4 billion in April. May dropped to N36.5 billion, June slightly rose to N38.7 billion, before crashing to N6.8 billion in July.
The total still amounted to N235.6 billion equivalent to nearly $400 million.
What makes the withdrawals more contentious is the comparison with the Niger Delta host communities.
According to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), oil-producing communities received N328.2 billion in the last four years as their share of the Host Communities Development Fund (HCDF).
By contrast, the frontier fund has already collected N235.6 billion in just seven months, on a monthly basis, frontier allocations average N33.7 billion, nearly five times the N6.8 billion that host communities get.
For many in the Delta, the imbalance proves their long-standing fears: that the PIA prioritises chasing new oil dreams over fixing decades of environmental destruction and underdevelopment in existing oilfields.
Analysts say the numbers expose a strong policy tilt towards northern exploration, with communities in the Niger Delta left behind despite carrying the weight of the country’s crude wealth.