Nigeria guarantees a fair procedure as it invites bids for 12 additional oil blocks

Nigeria’s oil regulator announced Wednesday at a global oil conference in Houston, Texas, that the country is seeking bids for 12 onshore and deepwater oil blocks from foreign firms with the financial and technical means.

The largest oil producer in Africa began the licensing round for this year on April 29 with the goal of expanding the country’s estimated reserves of 209.26 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 37.5 billion barrels of crude oil.

The head of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, stated, “Nigeria is committed to conducting the licensing round in a fair, competitive, and transparent manner and ensuring a level playing field for both indigenous and international investors” (NUPRC).

Due to a lack of transparency in the award process, which left businesses unable to drill profitable oil fields, several investors declined to participate in past bids. Eventually, threats to cancel the awards resulted from this.

The seven deep offshore blocks from the 2022 mini-bid round exercise will also be completed concurrently with this licensing round, according to Komolafe.
As a result, investors will have access to a total of 19 oil blocks in 2024.

In addition to technical and financial proficiency, the regulator stated that it will evaluate the bidders’ plans to comply with the nation’s net-zero carbon emissions obligations, do away with gas flares, and refrain from contaminating farms and rivers.

Nigeria, one of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members, now produces slightly more than 1.3 million barrels of oil per day, down from about 2 million barrels a decade ago.

Oil giants are shifting their focus to deepwater fields, where disruptions are less frequent, and abandoning onshore fields that are vulnerable to sabotage and frequent claims for compensation for spills.