The 47 oil and gas companies that the Federal Government issued the Petroleum Prospecting Licence (PPL) won the 2020 marginal field bid because of their financial capacity and performance in previous industries.
The Chief Executive Officer, Matrix Energy, Abdulkabir Adisa Aliyu, made this known to reporters on the sidelines of the awards in Abuja yesterday.
He said: “We paid so much and government tried to select companies, not only the ones that financial capacity but those people government also believe have done well in their respective industries.”
Aliyu, whose firm has been operating in the downstream sector of the industry, assured that the firm will uphold the outstanding performance in the upstream sector.
“We are from the downstream and the trading arm of the business. The ultimate aim of everybody in the downstream industry is to progress to the upstream,” he said, promising to be the first of the awardees to strike the first oil.
“We are happy that we are one of the companies that got the licence and also too as we have done in the downstream, we will want to be the first company that will come to oil,” he added.
According to him, with the licence, it is an opportunity for the firm to contribute to growth and development of the country, especially with rising crude oil prices to contribute his quota to national development.
Continuing, he said: “We will do our best to ensure we contribute significantly to the gas reserves and oil reserves of the country and at the same time we will contribute our quota to the financial betterment of this country. My operation is based in the Niger Delta. We have been in the Niger Delta since 2010. I believe that some of our experiences we will be able to bring it to the table. I believe if we face any difficulty the NUPRC is ready, able and available to give us the necessary support.”
Another beneficiary of the PPL, Sigmund Oilfields Limited, assured of hitting 25, 000 barrels first oil and 100cubic feet of gas. The firm won the Ajaketon Marginal Field in OML 63, now PPL 228.
Speaking with The Nation at the PPL issuance ceremony, its Managing Director, Emeka Okeke, noted that the geological study of the field indicates that it bears over 40 million barrels and enormous gas deposit.
He said: “Really, from the geological study we have the ultimate reserve in there is close to about 40 million barrels. And it has equally enormous gas deposit. So as we hitting first oil, we are equally delivering gas. We will be looking at initially close to about 20,000 to 25,000 barrels and maybe 100,000cubic feet of gas.”
