The Federal Government has announced the addition of 17 deep offshore oil blocks to the 2024 Licensing Round for oil fields in Nigeria.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, at the pre-bid conference for the 2024 licencing round in Lagos on Tuesday, according to the Punch.
According to Komolafe., 7 deep offshore blocks have been added to the 2024 Licensing Round.
He said, “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.
“As a result of additional data acquired in respect of deep offshore blocks, the commission has added 17 deep offshore blocks to the 2024 Licensing Round. Further details on the blocks can be found on the bid portal.”
Komolafe further stated that “by the published guidelines, we 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.”
Recall That Several blocks spanning onshore, the continental shelf, and deep offshore terrain were offered for the Nigeria 2024 Licencing Round, while other deep offshore blocks were just placed up for bid in the 2022–2023 mini-bid round.
On May 8, the government asked investors to submit bids for 12 oil blocks and seven deep offshore assets, in the 2024 marginal fields bid round.
However, on June 12, 2024, it was reported that the Federal government had increased the number of oil blocks on offer in the 2024 marginal bid round.
For clarification, the NUPRC boss advised bidders to get in touch with the upstream regulatory body or consult the Frequently Asked Questions sections of the portals for the 2022–2023 and 2024 licensing rounds.
He said that the timeframe for the 2024 Licencing Round has been adjusted to enable interested investors to take advantage of the increased chances.
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 licencing round schedule remain the same unless otherwise communicated.
