220 acreages ready for oil exploration, FG tells investors
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The Federal Government through the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has announced the availability of 220 open acreages that are ready for exploration and investment opportunities.
In the oil and gas sector, acreages mean specific tracts of land available for exploration, drilling, or production activities. They can be leased or sold to companies to extract natural resources.
The government also reiterated that it currently has 31 oil blocks available for investment, inviting interested investors to explore opportunities in these blocks and contribute to the growth and development of the country’s oil and gas sector.
The Chief Executive of NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, disclosed this during his presentation at the Africa Oil Week in Cape Town, South Africa. Our correspondent obtained a copy of his presentation on Wednesday.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Unpacking the 2024 Nigerian Licencing Round’, Komolafe said, “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 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 government has also eliminated the payment of hefty signature bonuses to promote investments.
He noted, “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.”
On Tuesday, the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, revealed that the government was expecting $50bn worth of investments in the oil sector before the end of the year.
He said this is due to ambitious fiscal reforms being spearheaded by the Federal Government in the sector.
The minister boasted that as a result of the solid reforms and the impact they are generating in Nigeria, many of the companies that had exited Nigeria due to the adverse operating environment, are now returning to Nigeria for business in the oil industry.
