The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) yesterday announced that with the acquisition of additional data on the oil assets up for sale, it was making available an extra 17 deep offshore for bids.
In May, the commission invited investors to bid for 12 oil blocks and seven deep offshore assets in the 2024 marginal licensing round. In an update on the latest licensing round, the Gbenga Komolafe-led organisation stated that it had extended the date for pre-qualification from June 25 to July 5 this year.
It recalled that some deep offshore blocks were put on offer for the 2022/23 mini bid round and other blocks which cut across onshore, continental shelf and deep offshore terrains were also put on offer for the Nigeria 2024 licensing round. To vacate entry barriers, the commission added that it had sought and obtained the approval of President Bola Tinubu, the petroleum minister, in line with his avowed determination to create enabling and attractive investment regimes in the upstream oil and gas sector.
According to the NUPRC, the president approved attractive fiscal regimes and minimized entry fees for both licensing rounds by putting a cap on the signature bonus payable for the award of the acreages. However, it said that all the prequalified 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. It said that they may, however, wish to resubmit 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.
The NUPRC emphasized they were also free to bid for blocks on offer in the 2024 licensing round, explaining that to allow interested investors to take advantage of the expanded opportunities, the 2024 licensing round schedule has been amended.
All other dates in the published 2024 licensing round schedule, it said, remains the same unless a change is communicated. By the published guidelines, the NUPRC noted that it had earlier indicated that some of the assets on offer should be applied for as clusters, namely: PPL 300-CS & PPL 301-CS, PPL 2000 and PPL 2001. “Bidders are hereby advised that they may, at their option, bid for those blocks as clusters or as single units,” the commission said.
