The federal government has announced the commencement of the 2024 oil bid round, featuring 12 oil blocks up for grabs, in addition to seven deep offshore blocks carried over from last year’s bid round.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) revealed this development, stating that the process is set to conclude by January next year.
Gbenga Komolafe, the commission’s chief executive, disclosed these details during his presentation at the inaugural NEITI House Dialogue in Abuja. He highlighted the government’s objective of injecting a $3 billion capital investment into projects under the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) and generating 300,000 jobs.
Komolafe outlined potential economic and social benefits from the flare gas commercialisation programme, including providing clean energy access to six million households through LPG, eliminating 20 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, unlocking 600,000MT of LPG per year, and generating 2.5 GW of power from new and existing IPPs.
Regarding the bid round, Komolafe stated that the new greenfield oil blocks on offer consist of six acreages on the continental shelf, four deep offshore blocks, and two onshore blocks in the Niger Delta. He emphasized the commission’s commitment to creating a conducive investment environment through regulations that ensure regulatory certainty, remove entry barriers, and promote global competitiveness.
Komolafe highlighted the criteria for acquiring the blocks, including technical competence, financial capacity, and viability. He also revealed that the Commission recorded N4.344 trillion in revenues in 2023, a 15% increase from the previous year.
Furthermore, Komolafe outlined initiatives aimed at ramping up crude oil production in Nigeria, such as timely approvals of Field Development Plans, adoption of new technologies, reduction of unit technical costs, production optimization, transparency in hydrocarbon metering and accounting, and effective monitoring of work program obligations.
Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, the executive secretary of NEITI, explained that the NEITI House Quarterly Dialogue aims to host prominent policymakers in Nigeria’s extractive industries and related sectors to address issues of interest and relevance to the industry.
