Nigeria is committed to conducting a fair, competitive, and transparent 2024 oil licensing bid round, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has restated.
The Commission Chief Executive of NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, who stated this during the Pre-Bid Conference for 2024 Licensing Round in Lagos on Tuesday also assured of a level playing field for both indigenous and international investors throughout the exercise.
In May, during the maiden edition of NEITI House Dialogue in Abuja, Komolafe announced the commencement of the 2024 Licensing Round in which about 17 oil blocks, along with a few recovered production sharing contract (PSC) licenses, would be auctioned to both local and international bidders.
Subsequently, he followed up with similar announcements at the 2024 Oil Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, roadshow in Miami organized by Zeste Advisory; the African Energies Summit in London organized by Frontier Network, and the Invest in Africa Energy Summit in Paris organized by Energy Capital Power.
On each occasion, the CCE reminded prospective investors that Nigeria’s aim of organizing the licensing round was to project and attract robust local and foreign investors to participate.
At the pre-bid conference on Tuesday, the Nigerian upstream oil and gas industry regulator said the forum was to allow participants to explore the opportunities to unlock Nigeria’s vast hydrocarbon potential, attract investment, and propel the country towards greater economic and shared prosperity.
He said the Presidential Executive Orders issued in March this year were aimed at improving the efficiency and attractiveness of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, with targeted incentives for oil and gas development.
The Orders, the CCE noted, introduced measures to balance the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, 2010 to ensure oil and gas development was not hindered by local content bottlenecks.
Besides, he said the Orders also included directives on the reduction of contracting costs and timelines to enhance the global competitiveness of the country’s oil and gas industry and achieve a higher rate of return on oil and gas investments.
He said Nigeria was blessed with abundant crude oil, condensate, and natural gas reserves accounting for about 30% and 33% respectively of Africa’s entire oil and gas reserves, aside abundant mix of other renewable energy resources.
To help exploit and optimize these resources, Komolafe said Section 7(t) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) empowers the NUPRC to rely on the provisions of the law and applicable Regulations to conduct bid rounds for the award of petroleum prospecting licenses (PPLs) and petroleum mining licenses (PMLs).
“Our approach is underpinned by the robust legal framework of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021(PIA), which ensures compliance with best practices to boost investors’ confidence,” he said.
In line with the provisions of the PIA and regulations under the Act, the CCE said the Commission issued a licensing round guideline and published a plan for the award of the blocks.
The current bid round, he explained, has introduced some selected blocks across diverse geological spectra in onshore basins to the continental shelves as well as the deep offshore territories.
Each oil block, he pointed out, was selected for its potential to bolster the country’s national reserves and stimulate economic vitality.
Already, he said the Commission has opened a dedicated bid portal to allow prospective bidders register/submit Pre-Qualifications documents on or before the June 25, 2024 deadline, while partnering to acquire more geological data to identify more prospective oil blocks.
He announced that the newly identified oil blocks would be added to the pool of 17 originally scheduled for the bid exercise.
Details of the newly identified oil blocks, he said would be disclosed on the official bid round portal, in addition to seven deep offshore oil blocks recovered from the 2022 Mini-Bid Round Exercise, covering approximately 6,700 km2 in water depths of 1,150m to 3,100m.
Besides, he said the NUPRC, in collaboration with the National Data Repository and other partners, g would guarantee access to comprehensive and high-quality geological data to facilitate strategic investment decision-making.
The CCE disclosed that the oil blocks on offer have extensive 2D and 3D seismic data coverage, including multi-beam and analog data, in addition to a 3D reprocessed Pre-stack Time Migration of remarkable quality for prospective bidders.
The availability of advanced seismic datasets and analytical tools through dedicated bid portals, he said, exemplifies the Commission’s commitment to excellence and technological advancement.
On the benefits of the Licencing Round, Komolafe said apart from growing the nation’s oil and gas reserves, boosting oil production, and expanding opportunities for gas utilization and end-to-end development across the value chain, it would strengthen the country’s energy security and economy.
Other benefits would include opportunities to engage competent companies in the oil & gas sector and employment for Nigerians, enable the transfer of technology, value optimization from the country’s petroleum assets, and attracting investments as well as an opportunity to reinforce Nigeria’s commitment to openness and transparency in line with the principles of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI).
