THE Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has announced that it has begun processes for the 2024 oil bid round with 12 oil blocks and five deep offshore assets from last year’s bid exercise.
Also, the commission disclosed on Monday, April 29, that it had started its ‘due diligence’ on Renaissance Consortium’s planned acquisition of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SDPC) onshore oil assets for $2.4 billion.
The commission’s chief executive officer, Gbenga Komolafe, spoke at two separate events in Abuja: the maiden NEITI House Dialogue and a workshop organised to streamline the issues in the proposed divestment of the SPDC’s participating interests.
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Komolafe, who said the oil bids would be concluded by January 2025, stated that the new green field oil blocks on offer included six acreages located on the continental shelf, four deep offshore blocks, and two onshore blocks in the Niger Delta.
He explained that the commission had put in place regulations to create a conducive investment environment by ensuring regulatory certainty, vacating entry barriers, and promoting global competitiveness.
He stressed that the licensing round would be conducted in a fair and competitive bidding process that is non-discriminatory.
He noted that some of the criteria required for acquiring the blocks included technical competence, financial capacity, and viability.
“The licensing round that we put in place is designed to enhance quality data sets and is going to be conducted in a fair, transparent, and competitive bidding process and in a non-discriminatory manner as stipulated in Sections 73 and 74 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
“It is gratifying that in the last three years, you will see the growth of revenue generation by the commission. The commission has successfully been meeting and surpassing the revenue targets set by it, and that equally speaks to the transparent approach in revenue reporting by the commission,” he added.
Komolafe, at one of the events, informed that the 2024 licensing round, as described in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), would commence at the end of this month.
He said the commission generated N4.344 trillion in revenues in 2023, a 15 per cent increase from N3.78 trillion generated in 2022, N2.9 trillion in 2021, and N2 trillion in 2020.
The NUPRC also began its ‘due diligence’ on Renaissance Consortium’s planned acquisition of SDPC onshore oil assets for $2.4 billion.
In January this year, oil giant, Shell agreed to the transaction, announcing that when the deal is completed, the oilfields would be operated by the new group, comprising ND Western, Aradel Energy, First E&P, Waltersmith, and Petrolin, a Swiss firm.
However, Shell, which has operated in Nigeria for over six decades, stated that the federal government’s approval was still required for the deal to be consummated.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.