The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it is collaborating with oil service company Schlumberger on the deployment of state-of-the-art technology in the ongoing search for commercial hydrocarbon deposits in the Chad basin and other parts of the inland sedimentary basins, The Sun reported.

According to NNPC’s COO of Ventures, Babatunde Adeniran, a research area for the companies will be “exploration and risks assessment studies of the Nigerian Frontier Basins, which include the Upper Benue where NNPC is currently carrying out exploration works,” Reuters informed.

The COO listed other areas of collaboration to include: Wellbore Instabilities studies to assist in reducing drilling costs through prevention of stuck pipes (especially for directional drillings), improve safety and drilling performance.

He added that the Research and Development Division of the Corporation is ready to take full advantage of the $1b global endowment fund for research instituted by Schlumberger.

Adeniran also noted that the corporation is working towards reaching an accord with Schlumberger on pressure volume and temperature (PVT) sampling and analysis.