Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (in charge of Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has cautioned against dormant oil blocks, warning that such licenses will be revoked.
Speaking at the Licensing Round Pre-bid Conference, in Lagos, the minister said: “Licenses are no longer status symbol. There belong to the government. Every licensee must develop the assets within the given time frame.
“Some licensees have held their licenses for 20 years without developing their assets. Such will not be tolerated any longer,” he warned.
Lokpobiri also explained that there will be no refund of bid fee or signature bonus and that post bid adjustment is not provided for in the bid round, as investors are cautioned to adhere strictly to the guidelines.
“Nigeria is a mature field. That’s why investors want to invest in the country’s hydrocarbon,” he added.
In her speech, the Chief Executive, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said that many of the blocks on offer were recovered through the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
She said, “Nigeria should be seen as the preferred investment destination in Africa. It is noteworthy that the number of indigenous producers has increased appreciably.”
Eyesan commended President Bola Tinubu for approving the revision of the signature bonus.
She added Nigerian banks are critical to the oil industry and enjoined investors to always liaise with them appropriately while embarking on the licensing round.
According to local media reports, a total of 50 blocks were on offer, while16 onshore and 18 shallow water respectively are in the Niger Delta and four onshore each are in Anambra, Benue and Chad frontier basin, one onshore is in the Benin frontier basin. There is only one deep offshore in the Nigeria Delta basin.
GIK/APA