About 31 billion barrels of heavy crude oil is held in bituminous sand deposits in south-western Nigeria. The bituminous sand deposits occur in 12km - wide belt that extends from ljebu-Ode in Ogun State, through Ondo State, to Edo State. It lies in the Upper Cretaceous sequence of the Abeokuta Formation in the eastern Dahomey Basin. Nigeria imports an average of 50,000 barrels of heavy crude oil a day from Venezuela for producing "base oil" which is used to blend with lubricants and greases in Kaduna Refinery. There is, therefore, a need to extract heavy oil from the Ondo deposit for the refinery and for bitumen.

Hydropower:Hydro-electricity accounts for nearly half of the power supply in Nigeria, and more stations are being planned. The River Niger has been excessively damned in Mali, Niger and Nigeria. Therefore, to continue to depend on it for electricity, especially considering its drought-prone upper basin that traverses the Sahel, is no longer strategic.

Apart from the River Niger, other hydropower stations have been proposed: Makurdi on the River Benue (1000 MW); Yola, also on the Benue (600 MW); Katsina North on the River Katsina (160 MW); Beli SE on the Taraba River (240 MW); and Ikorn on the Cross River (400 MW). Other potential hydro-electric dam sites are: Afikpo (180 MW); Bembu (130 MW); Garin Ladi (13 MW); Richa (70 MW); Sarkin (50 MW); Guadjikiri (40 MW); Kuru (40 MW); and at Gwaram, Kasambia and lfon, where each station could generate 30 MW.