The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has reopened the 2022/23 mini-bid round and extended deadlines for the 2024 licencing round, with new attractive fiscal terms approved by President Bola Tinubu.
This was stated in the NUPRC’s update and clarity on the 2022/2023 and 2024 licencing rounds seen by newsmen
According to the statement, all investors can now bid for both rounds under unified criteria, enhancing transparency and fairness.
Additionally, seventeen new deep offshore blocks have been added to the 2024 licencing round to encourage further investment.
It may be recalled that some deep offshore blocks were put on offer for the 2022/23 Mini Bid Round and other blocks which cut across onshore, continental shelf and deep offshore terrains were also put on offer for the Nigeria 2024 licencing round.
In a statement signed by NUPRC Chief Executive Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, it was noted that to remove entry barriers, the Commission obtained approval from President Tinubu, who, as Petroleum Minister, endorsed attractive fiscal regimes and minimized entry fees for both licensing rounds by capping the signature bonus payable for acreage awards.
“Consequently, it is necessary to ensure that the same bid criteria (in addition to the uniform signature bonus criteria) are applicable for both licencing rounds, to promote transparency and provide a level playing ground for all bidders.
Since the criteria for the award of the oil blocks are now much more attractive than they initially were during the 2022/23 mini-bid round, it is in the interest of equity and fair play to give all investors the same opportunity to bid for the assets.
Consequently, all blocks in the 2022/23 and 2024 Licencing Rounds are available to all interested investors on br.nuprc.gov.ng and br2024.nuprc.gov.ng respectively, and the 2022/23 mini bid round registration phase is reopened to new applicants,” NUPRC said.
According to the Commission, the public is invited to take advantage of this development and attractive entry terms and conditions and participate in the exercise.
It noted that all the prequalified applicants published on the 2022/23 mini bid round portal would not be required to go through a new pre-qualification process, as their technical submissions remain valid and eligible even for the 2024 licencing round.
“They may however wish to resubmit new Commercial Bids to take advantage of the more attractive criteria applicable to both licencing rounds and revise their Bid Bonds to adapt to the new bid criteria. They are also free to bid for blocks on offer in the 2024 licencing round,” the NUPRC said.
According to the Commission, to allow interested investors to take advantage of the expanded opportunities, the 2024 licencing round schedule has been amended as follows:
- Registration/Submission of Pre-Qualification Documents which was initially scheduled to close on 25 June 2024 has been extended by 10 days and will now close on 5 July 2024.
- Data Access/ Data Purchase/Evaluation/Bid Preparation and Submission which was initially scheduled to open on 4 July 2024 and close on 29/11/24 will now start on 8 July 2024 and close on 29/11/24 as previously scheduled.
- All other dates in the published 2024 Licencing Round Schedule remain the same unless otherwise communicated.
The NUPRC stated that, in line with its commitment to maximizing value from Nigeria’s abundant oil and gas reserves and boosting production, it has been collaborating with multiclient companies to enhance exploratory activities and gather more data to encourage further investment in the upstream sector.
It disclosed that the Commission has added seventeen new deep offshore blocks to the 2024 Licensing Round which according to the regulator, further details on these blocks are available on the bid portal.
The Commission noted that in accordance with the published guidelines, it had earlier indicated that some of the assets on offer should be applied for as clusters, namely: PPL 300-CS & PPL 301-CS, PPL 2000 and PPL 2001.
“Bidders are advised that they may, at their option, bid for those blocks as clusters or as single units,” it said.
