25 winners emerge at 2024 oil licensing bid
*******TotalEnergies, MRS, others win
By Yunus Yusuf
25 winners have emerged in the ongoing 2024 oil licensing bid round, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) announced.
The Chief Executive of NUPRC Mr Gbenga Komolafe, announced the winners at the licensing round commercial bid conference held in Lagos on Wednesday.
The winners that emerged after a competitive bidding are: Sifax and Royal Gate Consortium and Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited, which won the bids for PPL 300-DO and PPL 302-DO respectively having emerged as the sole bidders in the categories.
For PPL 303-DO, two bidders, MRS Oil and Gas Company Limited and NNPC Exploration and Production Limited qualified and had a tie in the bidding, but MRS Oil and Gas later emerged the winner.
In PPL 304-DO, Homeland Integrated Offshore Services Limited edged out Sifax and Royal Gate Consortium to emerge the winner. Hamilcar Oil and Gas Consortium won the bid for PPL 305-DO ahead of NNPC E&P.
BISWAL oil and gas Limited and won in the PPL 306-DO bid, beating NNPC E&P Limited.
Petroli Energy Marketing and Supply Limited (PPL 269), Sahara Deepwater Resources Limited won the PPL 270, Sahara Deepwater also won the PPL 271 License.
Totalenergies with a 126 points emerged winner in the PPL 2000/2001 beating Star Deepwater Petroleum Limited who scored 125 points.
For PPLs 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, BISWAL Oil and Gas; First E & P Development Company; Dewayles International Limited; Applefield Oil and gas limited and First E&P Development Company Limited, respectively won thee licences having being the sole bidders in their respective categories.
Similarly, PPLs 2007, 2008 and 3007 went to R28 Holdings Limited, Tulcan Energy E & P Company Limited and Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas limited.
Broron Energy Limited won PPL 2009, while PPLs 3011, 3012, 3015, 3016 and 3017 all won by sole bidders which are: R28 Holdings,Tulcan Energy E &P Company Limited, Panout Oil and Gas, Hakilat Oil and gas consortium Ltd and Applefield Oil and gas respectively.
Komolafe, also announced that there will be another oil licensing bid round in 2025.
According to him, the commission decided to make licensing rounds an annual exercise to boost oil production.
“While we are proud of our recent achievements as industry stakeholders, we must remain mindful of the challenges ahead.
“Declined production levels and failed global competition demand strategic action. Interestingly, the Petroleum Industry Act has given us a unique opportunity to transform the industry, attract investments and position Nigeria as a forefronter.
“To this end, I am pleased to announce that the NUPRC will launch another licensing round in the year 2025.
“Building on the lessons learned from this year’s round, the 2025 exercise will focus on discovered and undeveloped fields, fallow assets and prioritise natural gas development to support Nigeria’s commitment to UN Sustainable Development Goals,” he added.
Komolafe said the regulator’s commitment has been to restore investors’ confidence in the industry, saying that it has done so diligently by ensuring that its activities are in alignment with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act.
“What we are doing here today is not a matter of discretion by the commission or the statutory provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act.
“The statutory provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act provide that the commission should conduct licensing rounds.
“The law did not make it annual, but to ensure that we grow, preserve and optimise our hydrocarbon resources, as I said, we are committed to annual licensing rounds. And that’s why I said that after this (2024) exercise, we will commence another one in 2025,” he emphasised.
The NUPRC boss added that the commission has started the recovery of idle assets based on the ’drill or drop’ provision of the Petroleum Industry Act.
“There is a provision in the Petroleum Industry Act that speaks to ‘drill or drop’. So, we have been having engagements with the industry to ensure that unexplored areas and resources are harvested back into the basket; and we have done this.
“We intend to rebuild those idle assets because a lot of our assets remain idle and that is not the intent of the Petroleum Industry Act.
“So as a commission and as a regulator, we have started activating the drill or drop provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, which is intended to ensure that our assets do not just remain idle.
“So, we are harvesting them into the basket, and we will ensure that they go for bidding to interested bidders in the next licensing round,” he stated.
