Borno Could Be Nigeria's Next Oil State. What Happened to the Search That Began in 1976?

Borno State is known across Nigeria for insurgency, but there is something that sits underneath its sand: one of the country's longest unfinished oil searches.

Crude oil exploration in the Chad Basin began in 1976 and almost five decades later, nobody has publicly confirmed that Borno oil can be produced in commercial quantities. On October 3, 2026, the North-East Governors' Forum asked the federal government to revive the stalled work.

Can Borno Become Nigeria's Next Oil-Producing State?

Borno sits inside the Chad Basin. This is the Nigerian portion of the wider Lake Chad Basin. Nigeria classifies the state as a frontier basin, which means it is an inland region outside the Niger Delta where hydrocarbons are suspected but not proven.

Seismic surveys covering about 33,000 kilometres identified three promising sub-basins: Gubio, Maiduguri and the Baga and Lake Chad area. Two wells, Wadi-1 and Kinasar-1, found gas but not enough to be commercial.

Borno has potential to become one but no proof yet. What changed the mood isKolmani River-2 in the Upper Benue Trough, where oil and gas were found in commercial quantities.

NNPC says that experience sharpened its understanding of Nigeria's rift basins and helped justify returning to Borno.

Borno Oil Exploration Timeline: From 1976 to 2026

The search began in 1976, when exploration started in the Chad Basin. By 1985, sub-commercial gas had been found at Wadi-1 which was an encouraging sign that still fell short of anything worth producing.

Drilling then stopped in 1995 and NNPC later admitted that the results were weak and not commercial.

The work, however, did not end there. Between 2008 and 2018, NNPC processed fresh 3D seismic data to understand the basin better. But insurgency interrupted it, with seismic acquisition suspended in 2014. In July 2017, the whole programme was halted after attacks on workers.

After a security risk assessment in 2022, NNPC returned. In May 2023, Wadi-B drilling was flagged off at Tuba in Jere LGA which is about 50 kilometres from Maiduguri. The reported target was 732 million barrels.

By August 2024, NNPC said the Wadi-2 well had reached 12,050 feet and was being tested for commercial viability. Now, in October 2026, the governors describe the work in Magumeri and Gubio as stalled.

Why Has Oil Exploration in Borno Not Been Completed?

There are three problems and they keep repeating themselves.

The first is geology. Inland basins are expensive and technically difficult. After the 1995 drilling, NNPC's leadership said the basin needed to be understood better and a different approach was required. While they were rethinking, the focus went back to the Niger Delta that offered easier barrels.

The second is insecurity. Seismic work was suspended in 2014 and the whole programme stopped in 2017 after workers were attacked.

The third is execution. When Wadi-B was flagged off in 2023, heavy rains washed away parts of the drill site, and pre-drill infrastructure had to be rebuilt, which delayed the real start of drilling.

As far as public reports show, no result has yet confirmed commercial volumes, and the governors now call the Magumeri and Gubio work stalled.

Why Are North-East Governors Pushing for Borno Oil Now?

The timing follows the revival of Kolmani. At their 13th meeting in Maiduguri on October 2 and 3, 2026, the governors thanked President Tinubu for renewed attention to Kolmani, the Port Harcourt to Maiduguri rail corridor and the Akwanga to Maiduguri highway. Then they asked for the same energy in Borno.

Governor Babagana Zulum, who chairs the forum, argues that responsible exploration can support reconstruction, create jobs, restore livelihoods and widen revenue.

Under Nigeria's constitution, mineral-producing states receive a 13 percent derivation share, which would be significant for states rebuilding after years of conflict. The forum is also pushing a regional energy agenda that includes hydropower, solar and more CNG and LNG stations.

Is Boko Haram a Reason to Delay Oil Exploration in Borno?

Boko Haram Insurgency is partly a delay. There is a case for caution and it is simple. The same region has seen workers attacked, park operations suspended and communities displaced by insurgency.

Rigs, camps and pipelines are high-value targets and a drilling crew cannot work where it cannot be protected. The Niger Delta also serves as a case study of what happens when oil wealth arrives without trust.

The case for moving is that the Wadi-B site sits close to Maiduguri and NNPC completed a security risk assessment in 2022 before returning.

The governors argue that jobs and revenue are part of what makes peace last, because broken economies and idle young people feed recruitment.

The fair position is sequencing. Exploration cannot replace security and security alone will not rebuild an economy.

The questions to put to the federal government are practical. Who protects the workers? What is the security plan for each site? How will host communities benefit if oil is found?

What Borno Oil Would Mean for Nigeria

If Borno's reserves prove commercial, Nigeria gains a producing region outside the Niger Delta and spreads the risk away from one overstretched area. For the North-East, it could mean jobs, infrastructure and a revenue base beyond federal allocations.

It is, however, important to note that a stalled well is not a discovery, and nobody should call Borno an oil state yet.

What exists is nearly fifty years of data, two gas finds, one revived neighbour in Kolmani, and a region asking to be next.

Borno becoming Nigeria's next oil state depends on two things: a well that finally confirms commercial volumes, and a security plan that can protect everyone working to find them.