Nigeria’s oil and condensate reserves is about 36.966 billion barrels as of January 1, 2023
The upstream petroleum industry regulator is planning the maiden Nigerian Upstream International Investment and Financial Roadshow (NUIIFR) for Petroleum Prospecting Licence (PPL) Awardees under the 2020 Marginal Field Bid Round.
The proposed roadshow is coming just as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says the country’s oil and condensate reserves stood at about 36.966 billion barrels as of January 1, 2023.
The Chief Executive Officer of Gbenga Komolafe, who disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja also disclosed that the country’s cumulative volume of natural gas reserves stood at about 208.83 trillion cubic feet, made up of about 102.32 trillion cubic feet of Associated Gas reserves and about 106.51 trillion cubic feet of non-Associated Gas reserves.
Komolafe said the planned roadshow scheduled to hold in the next few weeks would be for Bidders under the Nigerian Gas Flares Commercialization Programme (NGFCP) and potential investors in the upcoming Mini Bid round for Deep Water Asset.
Delivering a keynote paper titled: “Pivoting Upstream Petroleum Regulations & Investments” at the 6th Nigeria International Energy Summit 2023 on the theme “Global Perspectives for a Sustainable Energy Future”, Komolafe said the roadshow would help the licensees and prospective Investors (local and offshore) explore funding opportunities and leverage capabilities to de-risk the assets and awards.
“The event will provide an opportunity for participants to network, exchange ideas, and chart strategic pathways to enhance investment opportunities,” he said.
Komolafe who highlighted some of the achievements of the upstream regulatory agency since its inception said apart from successfully completing the 2020 Marginal Field Bid Round, the Commission part of its engagement with the awardees to ensure early field development was the planned roadshow.
Similarly, he said the ongoing mini-bid round for seven Deep Offshore Petroleum Prospecting Licences (PPLs) was scheduled to be concluded in the third quarter of this year to boost the country’s oil reserves.
He disclosed that the NGFCP 2022 bid process for 49 flare sites with a combined volume of about 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day would be concluded this month.
“The flare commercialization initiative is aimed at driving Nigeria’s target to end routine gas flaring within this decade, supporting the Nigeria Energy Transition Plan (ETP) and creating value from its gas resources.
“In this gas flare commercialization journey, the Commission has partnered with relevant global players to leverage the carbon credit market mechanism that should improve the bankability of some of the flare elimination projects,” he said.
On the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the Commission CEO said the new law has empowered the Commission with the regulatory and governance framework to develop Regulations to create a conducive operating environment and buy-in of communities on the activities of industry operators.
The PIA, he noted, has provided for the incorporation of host communities’ development fund for the benefit of the host communities.
As part of its achievement, he said the NUPRC has registered 72 host community development trusts (HCDT) to ensure effective implementation of the PIA, apart from organising sensitization workshops on the HostCom implementation.
Also, he said the Commission, in partnership with an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), has developed an intelligent, digital, automated platform for reporting and monitoring the Host Community Development Trust (HCDT) for transparent administration of the HostCom provisions of the PIA.
The portal, which would be ready for subscription, would be launched in a few week’s time to meet specific requirements of HCDT as enshrined in the PIA.
“The digital solution will aid all stakeholders (the Settlors, Board of Trustees, Management Committees, Advisory Committees, Fund Managers etc) to fulfill their obligations to host communities and promote accountability and transparency in the management of the HCDT programme as well as enable quick feedbacks from the stakeholders and the public for the Commission to carry out its regulatory oversight effectively,” he said.
In line with NUPRC’s mandate under the PIA, Komolafe said the commission was committed to continuing with the drive to grow upstream industry reserves through deliberate oil and gas exploration, deep drilling, prospects maturation, appraisal, field studies and improved oil recovery.
He said the Commission’s efforts have started to yield results in the country’s gas reserves position, with growing prospects in oil reserves.
Consequently, he announced that the National Hydrocarbon Reserves Position as at January 1, 2023 showed that the country’s oil and condensate reserves stood at about 36.966 billion barrels, consisting 31.060 billion barrels for oil and 5.906 billion barrels for condensate.
In addition, he said the country’s Associated Gas reserves stood at about 102.32 trillion cubic feet, with non-Associated Gas reserves at 106.51 trillion cubic feet, bringing the country’s cumulative volume of natural gas reserves to 208.83 trillion cubic feet.
The country’s oil and condensate reserves, which he noted, declined by about 0.22 percent, compared to the volume in the corresponding period in January 1, 2022, were attributable to low exploration activities and reserves revision as a result of subsurface studies last year.
However, the slight increase of 0.10 percent in gas reserves over the January 1, 2022 reserves position, he said was primarily attributed to the revisions arising from additional information from new wells, and field development studies.
