The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has disclosed plan for licensing bid of 220 oil blocks in line with the pursuit of the current administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to ramp up the country’s oil production as reiterated by the Minister of State for Petroleum Oil Senator Heineken Lokpobiri.
According to NUPRC, about 220 oil blocks clustered across onshore and offshore basins are set to be handed over to new concessionaires. This is coming in as fresh periodic bid rounds, which will be guided by stringent terms and conditions.
The Minister has emphasized the pressing need for Nigeria to ramp up its crude oil production to meet the country’s monthly OPEC mandate, as well as domestic refining demand, and for companies in possession of these dormant fields to plan reentry of these fields or farmout unused assets.
“I urged other operators to explore all avenues to increase production, including farming out unused assets to those with the financial capacity to utilize them effectively, as the Government has the right to enforce the “drill or drop” provision under the PIA in our effort to maximize the sector’s potential responsibly.
“The time has come for us to develop every available field, the one you feel that you cannot and not within your development plan, is as good as farmout. So that instead of keeping blocks for the next 20 to 30 years, you farm out. So, some other persons who also have access to capital can come and develop, “the minister asserted.
The nation’s Minister of State for Petroleum, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, made this assertion while inspecting the NNPCL/Chevron JV EGTL facility in Escravos, Delta State. He encouraged operators to deepen their investments and ramp up production to meet both domestic and international obligations, noting that the government of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu will continue to provide incentives that ensure Nigeria remains an attractive destination for investors.
But according to NUPRC in its statement, the unlicensed 220 oil blocks are unlicensed assets and were not abandoned by concessionaires but were awaiting concessions in line with Section 7(t) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, which empowers it to conduct periodic licensing rounds and award oil blocks to successful bidders.
“The commission clarified that 220 oil blocks were not abandoned but were simply awaiting concessions in line with Section 7(t) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, which empowers the commission to conduct periodic licensing rounds and grant Petroleum Prospecting Licence and Petroleum Mining Leases to prospective investors.
NUPRC stated that out of the 220 blocks, 59 blocks are clustered offshore in deep water, and they will be allocated to the right winners after a competitive and transparent bidding process in the investors’ round. The NUPRC data have shown that the deep offshore fields account for the highest number of unlicensed assets, standing at 59 blocks, followed by the Benue Trough with 41 open blocks, and the Chad Basin with 40.
Sokoto and Bida Basins have 28 and 16 blocks, respectively. While the offshore Niger Delta has 7 open blocks and the Anambra Basin has 13 open blocks, followed by the Benin Basin with 8 blocks.
“Empirical data indicates that there are about 59 open block opportunities in deep offshore Nigeria, which accounts for about 27 per cent of total open blocks in Nigeria and 80 per cent of open blocks in the prolific Niger Delta and its offshore terrains,” it was stated
However, it was stated that the deep offshore terrain presents complexity in accessibility, technology, investment, and facility deployment, which potentially explains its status as largely underexplored and underdeveloped.
