The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has announced the initiation of a new bid round for marginal oil fields in Nigeria in 2024.
This round includes 12 oil fields, along with five from the 2022 bid round that were postponed due to the 2023 general elections.
The announcement was made by the Commission’s Chief Executive, Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, during the inaugural session of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Policy Dialogue on Monday in Abuja.
Mr. Komolafe stated in his presentation that the bid round would take place in 2024 or may happen in 2025.
He indicated that the commission was determined to perform a thorough review of all awarded contracts to identify both active and idle assets within the industry, assuring that the process would adhere to the principles of fairness, transparency, and competitiveness in accordance with Section 73(1) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
He noted that it is difficult to estimate the exact revenue that the bid round would generate but projected that the amount could be in billions of dollars.
He explained that the country’s current oil production levels are fluctuating between 1.4 million barrels per day (mbpd) and 1.5 mbpd.
According to him, the petroleum sector was disorganized before the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) but has since become more structured with 25 new regulations established by the commission, creating a predictable environment for investors.
Komolafe also mentioned that the commission has allocated 49 gas flare sites as part of the Federal Government’s gas commercialisation program, generating a revenue of N4.344 trillion in 2023.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, the Executive Secretary of NEITI, said the dialogue was meant to allow the invited policymakers to present updates or status reports on the implementation of NEITI report recommendations as they relate to their respective agencies.