The federal government has assured investors that the 2022/2023 auction of oil blocs in the country will be fair, transparent, and competitive in line with best practices.

Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission,NUPRC,Engineer Gbenga Komolafe,who gave the assurance in Lagos at a pre-bid conference in Lagos,said
the exercise is scheduled to last for approximately four months involving registration & pre-qualification data prying/purchase technical bid submission/presentation technical bid evaluation commercial bid conference

He said:”As part of the bid process, we have announced the commencement and launched the bid round portal which was officially opened on 3rd January 2023. We have also provided an official email address, phone numbers and dedicated support line to guide applicants through the licensing round process”

He said all awardees must be duly registered in Nigeria under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA),adding that applicants may participate either as an individual company, or as a consortium.

He disclosed that the commission has established a committee to engage and collaborate with world renowned energy consultants, Wood Mackenzie, to ensure that Nigerian petroleum upstream regulations are in line with international best practice.

He explained that the development will form the basis for regulating the awardees of the seven (7) deep offshore blocks offered in the 2022/2023 mini bid round exercise.

According to him,the mini bid exercise has been designed to attract competent investors from across the world, both local and foreign, that have the capability and competence in operating in deep water environment.

He said,the mini bid round is expected to be a huge success for Nigeria and is a big step towards growing the nation’s oil and gas reserves through aggressive exploration and development efforts, boosting production, expanding opportunities for gas utilisation and development, strengthening energy security and economy, providing the opportunity to gainfully engage the pool of competent companies in the oil and gas sector resulting in employment opportunities, enabling transfer of technology, valorizing petroleum assets in the Nigerian Territory and attracting investments.

He added:”In addition, the Mini Bid Round presents us with the opportunity to reinforce Nigeria’s commitment to openness and transparency in line with the principles of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI).On the global scale, the Licensing Round will no doubt be gainful to all stakeholders and will in the long run contribute to long-term global energy sufficiency. Interestingly, the licensing round process was formulated in cognizance of global sustainability goals.

“The process will, in addition to technical and commercial considerations, pay the requisite attention to strategies, processes and implementable plans consistent with net zero carbon emission targets, eliminating gas flares as well as overall Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations.The oil and gas industry in Nigeria has embraced the reality of energy transition and is taking strategic position to leverage on the opportunities presented by the unfolding era.

“As a regulatory commission,we have taken deliberate steps in this regard including the recent issuance of guidelines for management of fugitive methane and greenhouse gases emissions in the upstream oil and gas operations in Nigeria during the COP27 in Egypt in a manner that attracted wide international commendation for Nigeria.

“However, it is worthy to recognize that recent events around the globe indicate that fossil fuels will continue to be a core part of the global energy mix well into the future, even beyond the 2050 targets for achieving net-zero carbon emissions that has been set by most countries”.