The Federal Government of Nigeria announced the addition of 17 deep offshore oil blocks to the 2024 Licensing Round for oil fields, aiming to attract more investment and boost production in the country’s oil and gas sector.
Gbenga Komolafe, CEO of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), disclosed the update at the pre-bid conference for the 2024 Licensing Round in Lagos.
In a statement issued in Abuja, Komolafe highlighted the commission’s efforts to enhance exploratory activities and attract more investment by acquiring additional data on deep offshore blocks.
“In pursuit of the commission’s commitment to derive value from the country’s abundant oil and gas reserves and increase production, the commission has been working assiduously with multi-client companies to undertake more exploratory activities to acquire more data to foster and encourage further investment in the Nigerian upstream sector,” Komolafe said.
Earlier this year, Nigeria initiated the 2022/23 mini-bid round and put various blocks across onshore, continental shelf, and deep offshore terrains up for bid in the 2024 Licensing Round.
On May 8, the government invited investors to bid for 12 oil blocks and seven deep offshore assets in the 2024 marginal fields bid round. This number was further increased on June 12, 2024.
Komolafe mentioned that the guidelines published earlier indicated that some assets should be applied for as clusters. Bidders now have the option to bid for these blocks as clusters or as single units.
For clarification, bidders are advised to refer to the Frequently Asked Questions Sections of the 2022/23 and 2024 Licensing Round portals or contact the upstream regulatory agency.
He said, “Registration/submission of pre-qualification documents which was initially scheduled to close on June 25, 2024, has been extended by 10 days and will now close on July 5, 2024.
“Data access/data purchase/evaluation/bid preparation and submission which was initially scheduled to open on July 4, 2024, and close on 29/11/24 will now start on July 8, 2024, and close on 29/11/24 as previously scheduled.
“All other dates in the published 2024 licensing round schedule remain the same unless otherwise communicated.”
He stated that to facilitate investor entry, the commission, with the approval of President Bola Tinubu, who also serves as petroleum minister, has implemented attractive fiscal regimes and minimized entry fees by capping the signature bonus payable for the award of the acreages.
This is to ensure uniformity in bid criteria and promotes transparency.
Komolafe emphasized that all blocks in the 2022/23 and 2024 Licensing Rounds are now available to all interested investors, with the websites developed by the NUPRC for this exercise reopened to new applicants.
“The public is therefore invited to take advantage of this development and attractive entry terms and conditions and participate in the exercise.
“However, all the pre-qualified applicants published on the 2022/23 Mini Bid Round portal will not be required to go through a new pre-qualification process, as their technical submissions remain valid and eligible even for the 2024 Licensing Round.
“They may, however, wish to re-submit new commercial bids to take advantage of the more attractive criteria applicable to both licensing rounds and revise their bid bonds to adapt to the new bid criteria. They are also free to bid for blocks on offer in the 2024 Licensing Round,” he concluded.
