The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has announced plans to close out the 2020 marginal field bid round programme in line with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA).
This follows the successful completion of the marginal oilfield bid earlier in the year and the issuance of award letters to successful investors.
This was made known in a statement issued by the Chief Executive Officer of NUPRC, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, on Tuesday, where he noted that it has equally put in place all necessary machinery to progress the bid round exercise to a conclusion.
Komolafe revealed to the participants of the programme that the commission has already set up an in-house work team to deal with outstanding issues which includes distilling and addressing the concerns of awardees with a view to close out issues affecting multiple awardees per asset.
According to NAN, the NUPRC boss said these issues also involved formation of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) by awardees in line with the respective letters of award.
Consequently, he said the Commission had enjoined awardees with the indicated issues to avail themselves of the resolution mechanism provided in the overriding national interest.
He also stated that the Commission was collaborating with leaseholders to agree on transition mechanisms in line with the PIA and the aspirations of government for the marginal field bid round exercise.
Komolafe, who explained that the 45 days period for payment of signature bonus by successful awardees as stipulated by the Marginal Field Guidelines has lapsed, however, assured those who have fully paid their signature bonuses that it would ensure that all guidelines were implemented.
He said, “As regulator and business enabler, the Commission will ensure that all applicable guidelines to enable them progress to the next stage of the exercise, are fully implemented.’’
What you should know
Marginal fields are known oil or gas discoveries on an International Oil Company (IOC)-owned block, where there has been no activity in at least 10 consecutive years. With the agreement of the IOC, the DPR carves out a piece of land surrounding the discovery and this becomes a Marginal field.
The bid round which began on June 1, 2020, came about 18 years after the last similar exercise in 2003 and was opened to indigenous oil & gas companies and investors interested in participating in the exploration and production business in Nigeria.
The 2021 Marginal Field Bid Rounds concluded with 57 marginal field assets awarded to 161 companies by the Department of Petroleum Resources (“DPR”) in what was the 2nd bid round since 2002/2003.
