A natural gas and oil well discovered about 50 years ago at Ehalumona in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State has remained untapped since its discovery.
The residents have expressed the desire to see exploration activities at the site.
The natural gas and oil deposit in the area is said to be in large commercial quantity and estimated to last for over 50 years.
An indigenous oil and gas company, Seveen Energy was said to have acquired the site for exploration but abandoned it for what insiders called political interference.
The vast gas site was first discovered by CGG Company prior to the Nigerian Civil War in 1966. It has been overgrown with weeds and left in a deplorable state.
The untapped crude deposit found in abundance in the area has traces of the same deposits in other communities in Nsukka and also cut across local governments in the area.
The areas that have traces of the crude deposits include Obollo Ekeh, Ezebinagu, Isi Uzo, amomg others.
The major base of the oil is in Ehalumona and it has about 30% petrol and 70% natural gas deposits.
The residents of the oil rich communities have expressed worry over the inability of the indigenous company, Seveen Energy to carry on further explorative activities since the Federal Government awarded it since 2013.
The residents dislosed that the Seveen Energy company had carried out a siesmic operation they termed environmental impact assessment in February 2014 at the abandoned oil zone.
In 2008 the huge natural gas deposit attracted Geokinetic Gas and Oil Plc, for further exploration of the site but failed to continue.
A community leader, Cletus Akor disclosed that prior to the Nigerian civil war in 1966, the oil and gas deposits had earlier attracted CGG company where they carried it’s first seismic exploration but couldn’t continue as a result of the severity of the civil war.
The community youth leader, Oji Uzo expressed his dissatisfaction over the abandoned oil-rich zone, describing it as a waste of both human and capital resources.
He said: “This type of thing should not be joked with. Look at an endowment being overlooked, something that would have been a source of employment opportunities for jobless Nigerian youths is overgrown by grasses. When this company first came here, our youth were employed as labourers and some worked in other lucrative positions, but look at how delapidated it is, a treasure of a nation.
“They told us that they would test the natural gas which they did and carried a half tanker of the crude gas for test, but we have not heard from them again.”
Also, Mr. Jonathan Ugwuanyi disclosed that apart from the Natural gas located in the area that there are untapped natural resources like Gold, Coal, among other resources located in the area.
The traditional ruler of Ezebinagu /Ehandiagu communities, Igwe Daniel Ugwuanyi expressed his belief that the company may begin exploration of the natural gas soon.
He said: “If this gas deposit is explored, it will create job opportunities for the people as well as a source of revenue for the Federal and State government.”
He said that the gas deposit would likely foster the construction of the much neglected Nsukka, Ehalumona, Ehandiagu, Mbu-Ikem road,” he said.
He therefore apealed to the State and Federal government to react positively to the abandoned huge gas deposit located in Ezebinagu/ Ehandiagu communities.
