International and local investors have shown a great deal of interest in the 2024 oil block licensing round, according to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
This revelation was made by the commission’s head, Gbenga Komolafe, in a statement on Thursday.
Komolafe stated that Nigeria initiated the licensing round in April, offering a total of 19 onshore and deepwater oil blocks to investors.
He said that the bid has now been expanded to include an additional 17 deep offshore blocks in the 2024 licensing round due to the strong interest from investors.
“In order to increase the offer and extend the deadline, we have increased our exploratory activities and gathered more data as a result. This has given rise to tremendous interest from investors,” Komolafe said.
Factors Responsible for Positive Cheers from Investors
Furthermore, Komolafe mentioned that the commission has made the offer more attractive by reducing the entry fees, known as the signature bonus, from approximately $200 million per field to $10 million.
He assured that the country has committed to a fair and transparent process, allowing online submissions through its website.
Bidders also have the option to lease individual oil blocks or clusters of blocks, he added.
Backstory
The registration and submission of pre-qualification documents for the 2024 oil block licensing round have been extended by ten days, as reported by Nairametrics earlier on Tuesday.
According to Komolafe, the pre-qualification document submission and registration deadline, which was originally set for June 25, 2024, has been moved up by 10 days to July 5, 2024.
“The Commission has been diligently working with multi-client companies to undertake more exploratory activities in order to fulfill its commitment to maximize production and derive value from the nation’s abundant oil and gas reserves.
He explained, “This is to gather more information to support and encourage additional investment in the Nigerian upstream sector.”
What you should know
- The NUPRC declared in May that the 2024 oil block licensing round had begun.
- The country’s estimated reserves of 209.26 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 37.5 billion barrels of crude oil are being further explored by the Commission.
- Nigeria wants to make it more difficult to acquire oil blocks in order to stop the flow of capital to its rival countries in Africa, Angola and Namibia.
- Nigeria, one of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members, now produces slightly more than 1.4 million barrels of oil per day, down from about 2 million barrels a decade ago.
- Oil majors are shifting their attention to deepwater fields, where disruptions are less frequent, and leaving onshore fields, which are vulnerable to sabotage and frequent claims for compensation for spills.
