New Set of Billionaires to Join Dangote, Alakija, Others as FG Begins 2024 Oil Block Bid Round
- The Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission has unveiled the 12 oil blocks that are up for bid in the 2024 round
- The new green field oil blocks include six acres on the continental shelf, four deep offshore blocks, among others
- The commission's chief executive, Gbenga Komolafe, said obtaining the blocks requires financial capability, viability, and other factors
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Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has over three years of experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.
The twelve oil blocks that were up for bid in the 2024 round and the seven deep offshore blocks from the previous round have been revealed by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Source: Getty Images
At the first-ever NEITI House dialogue in Abuja, the commission's chief executive, Gbenga Komolafe, said the process will be finished by January 2025.
Six acres on the continental shelf, four deep offshore blocks, and two onshore blocks in the Niger Delta are among the new greenfield oil blocks that are being offered.
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What the commission is doing
According to Komolafe, the commission has implemented regulations to guarantee regulatory clarity, remove obstacles to entry, and foster global competitiveness to foster an environment favourable to investment.
He said:
“The licencing round that we are putting in place is designed to enhance the quality data set, and it will be conducted in a fair, competitive bidding process in a non-discriminating manner.”
He mentioned that obtaining the blocks requires meeting several requirements, such as financial capability, viability, and technical proficiency.
Additionally, he revealed that the commission brought in N4.344 trillion in income in 2023—a 15% increase over N3.78 trillion in 2022.
Shell petroleum sales
In his speech, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, executive secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), explained that important decision-makers from Nigeria's extractive industries and related sectors will speak at the NEITI House Quarterly Dialogue.
Orji said they will be discussing issues that are pressing and relevant to the industry.
The proposed sale of all of the issued shares of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) by its shareholders to Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited is part of the divestiture of SPDC's assets.
Already, the NUPRC has established criteria for the process.
The SPDC currently manages the SPDC JV assets on behalf of its Joint Venture (JV) partners, which include Nigeria Agip Oil Company, NNPCL Limited, and Total Upstream Nigeria Limited.
Engineer Komolafe stated during a divestiture workshop on Monday in Abuja that the SPDC JV OMLs were initially granted as Oil Exploration License -1 (OEL-1) on January 1, 1949, encompassing the entirety of southern Nigeria and Cameroon.
The assets were ultimately converted to OMLs on April 1, 1962, and were extended for 20 years in 2014 and 2018.
He said:
“To date, the assets have achieved a cumulative production of 5.35 billion barrels of crude oil, 165. 57 million barrels of condensate, 9.51 trillion cubic feet of Associated Gas and 3.75 trillion cubic feet of Non-Associated Gas, contributing immensely to the achievement of Nigeria’s crude and condensate output.
Technical capability, financial viability, legality, decommissioning plan, decommissioning and abandonment plan, host community trust fund, and environmental remediation fund are among the criteria for the divestiture.
Nigeria’s richest woman secures six oil blocks
Legit.ng earlier reported that Folorunso Alakija, Nigeria's richest woman, took a gigantic step within Africa's oil and gas sector.
This was revealed in a statement by Julius F. Sandy, secretary to the Sierra Leonean president, Julius Bio.
The billionaire, through F.A. Oil Limited, secured exploration rights for a substantial offshore acreage of six offshore oil blocks in Sierra Leone.
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Source: Legit.ng
