The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has announced an extension of the deadline for registration and submission of pre-qualification documents for the 2024 oil block licensing round.
Commission Chief Executive (CCE) of the NUPRC, Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, announced the extension in a statement issued on Wednesday. Komolafe announced that the deadline for registration and submission of pre-qualification documents, which was initially scheduled to be completed on June 25, has been extended by 10 days to be completed on July 5.
He said that data access, purchase, evaluation, offer preparation, and submission, which were initially scheduled to begin on July 4 and end on November 29, will begin on July 8 as scheduled and end on November 29. He said all other dates in the published 2024 licensing round schedule will remain unaltered unless otherwise communicated.
“In order to assess the country’s rich oil and gas reserves and fulfill its commitment to increase production, the Commission is working with several client companies on further exploration activities. This is to generate more data to encourage and support further investment in Nigeria’s upstream sector,” he said.
Additional deepwater blocks Komolafe said that based on additional data obtained in the deepwater blocks, the Commission has added 17 deepwater blocks to the 2024 licensing round.
He said further details on the blocks can be found on the bidding portal.
“We have previously advised that in accordance with published guidelines, some of the assets offered, namely PPL 300-CS and PPL 301-CS, PPL 2000 and PPL 2001, should be applied for as clusters.”
“Bidders are instructed to bid for these blocks as clusters or individual units. It is optional,” Komolafe was quoted as saying in a statement.
As a reminder, some blocks in the deep waters and others running onshore have been offered for the mini-bidding round in 2022/2023.
The continental shelf and deep offshore formations have also been offered for the Nigerian licensing round in 2024.
To remove barriers to entry, the Commission sought and received the approval of President Bola Tinubu, who is said to be committed to creating an enabling and attractive investment regime in the upstream oil and gas sector.
Tinubu, who is also the Minister of Petroleum, has minimized the participation fees for both licensing rounds by approving attractive tax regimes and placing a cap on the signature premium for land allocations.
“Therefore, in order to promote transparency and provide a level playing field for all bidders, it is necessary to ensure that the same bidding criteria (in addition to consistent contract bonus criteria) apply to both licensing rounds.”
“The criteria for the award of oil blocks are now much more attractive than they were during the original 2022/2023 mini-bidding round and it is in the interests of justice and fair play to give all investors an equal opportunity to bid for the assets.”
“All blocks for the 2022/2023 and 2024 licensing rounds are available to all interested investors at br.nuprc.gov.ng and br2024.nuprc.gov.ng respectively.”
“And the registration stage for the 2022/2023 mini bidding round is now open again for new applicants.”
“The public is therefore invited to benefit from this development and attractive terms of participation and participate in the exercise,” Komolafe was further quoted in the statement.
