The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has moved its investors’ call for its 12 new oil blocks and 7 existing blocks to International Oil Companies and new entrants to Miami Florida, United States and the regulator is targeting scores of oil majors.
The ongoing Miami International Roadshow for 2024 licensing round is hosted by the NUPRC in collaboration with Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) and Zetse Advisory & Consulting.
Since May 6, the NUPRC has been in the US meeting IOCs and other investors with big pockets to invest in new opportunities in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
The recently concluded Offshore Technology Conference in Houston Texas opened the opportunity for the Commission to officially launch its licensing bid, an event attended by oil majors like Chevron.
The NUPRC Chief Executive, Gbenga Komolafe as the chief marketer of the oil blocks has traveled into some parts of the US, telling the story of Nigeria’s 19 blocks.
On May 7, 2024, the commission unveiled PPL 300 (continental shelf), PPL 300-CS; PPL 301-CS; PPL 3008; PPL 3009; PPL 2001; PPL 2002; PML 51; PPL 267; PPL 268; PPL 269; PPL 270; and PPL 271.
Also, seven other oil blocks which were not taken in the last bidding round are on sale.
Oil production fell below expectation by 50 per cent since its peak in 2005 but the new administration hopes to ramp up daily production to over 2 million barrels from its current 1.28 million in March.
This increase which aims at harvesting revenues to fund the country’s budget and build infrastructures that would enable energy transition will be driven by a surge of production in a handful of assets.
Some of the assets are the new oil blocks, and ramping up production in oil in the underproducing assets in divestment talks.
IOCs are divesting from 26 oil blocks in Africa’s biggest economy. The blocks have an estimated total reserve of 8.211 million barrels of oil, 2,699 million barrels of condensate, 44,110 billion cubic feet of associated gas and 46,604 billion cubic feet of non-associated gas.
The NUPRC is, however, moving to speed up the process of the regulatory oversight of the divestment in order to allow the assets to perform optimally.
The Commission’s boss, Komolafe had said the current average production from the blocks is 346,290 barrels per day (bopd), a breakdown of which Agip Oil Company Ltd (NAOC) produces 28,018 bopd, Mobil Oil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) is at 159,378 bopd, EQUINOR producing 36,155 bopd and SPDC producing 122,739 bopd.
The NUPRC boss lamented that technical production potential is much higher, standing at 643,054 barrels out of which NAOC has 147,481 bopd, MPNU is producing 244,268 bopd, EQUINOR producing at 39,203 and SPDC at 212,102 bopd).
The NUPRC’s mission in Miami is to seal investment deals and highlight the significant investment opportunities in the Nigerian oil/gas and natural gas/energy sectors.