Nigeria offers 220 acreages for oil exploration – Official --[Reported by Umva mag]

The Chief Executive of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, has announced the availability of 220 open acreages that are ready for exploration and investment opportunities in Nigeria.

Speaking on Wednesday at the Africa Oil Week in Cape Town, South Africa, Mr. Komolafe stated that Nigeria currently has 31 oil blocks available for investment and urged interested investors to explore opportunities in these blocks and contribute to the growth and development of the Nigerian oil and gas sector.

“There are 31 blocks on offer by the Federal Government of Nigeria. Seven deep offshore assets in the mini-bid round, 24 acreages for bid in the 2024 Licensing Round. These licensing rounds will be based on a fair, transparent, and competitive bidding process in line with Section 73(1) of the PIA (Petroleum Industry Bill).

“Nigeria is endowed with an abundance of crude oil and condensate reserves and natural gas reserves representing above 30 per cent and 33 per cent respectively of the entire oil and gas reserves in Africa aside from abundant mix of other renewable energy resources,” he said.

Delivering his speech on the theme, ‘Unpacking the 2024 Nigerian Licencing Round’, Komolafe explained that the licensing rounds offer significant opportunities for both domestic and international players to invest in the upstream oil and gas sector in Nigeria.

“Nigeria is endowed with an abundance of crude oil and condensate reserves and natural gas reserves representing above 30 per cent and 33 per cent respectively of the entire oil and gas reserves in Africa aside from abundant mix of other renewable energy resources.”

He said the licensing rounds offer significant opportunities for both domestic and international players to invest in the upstream oil and gas sector in Nigeria. Komolafe listed some of the blocks to include PPL 300, 301, 303, 2,000, 3,017, 3,013, and 3,016, among others.

The NUPRC boss said the Nigerian government has also eliminated the payment of hefty signature bonuses to promote investments.

“In the past, licence bid rounds in Nigeria attracted hefty signature bonuses. However, NUPRC has become a lot more pragmatic and strategic in providing the requisite incentives via the removal of huge front-loaded signature bonuses.

“To improve competitiveness, there are considerations for attractive acreage sizing to align with the reality obtainable in other jurisdictions and enhance global competitiveness in our bid rounds,” he added.

GIK/APA

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