- The Nigerian government harmonized criteria for the 2022/23 Mini Bid and 2024 Licensing Rounds to attract upstream oil and gas investments
- Prequalified 2022/23 applicants can submit new bids under improved criteria; the 2024 Licensing Round deadline is extended to July 5, 2024
The Federal Government has harmonised the 2022/23 Mini Bid Round criteria and 2024 Licensing Round to attract fresh investments into Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas sector. Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, the Commission Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), announced this harmonisation in a statement on Tuesday.
In 2022, former President Muhammadu Buhari approved offering deep offshore blocks for the 2022/23 Mini Bid Round. Additional blocks spanning onshore, continental shelf, and deep offshore terrains were also offered for the Nigeria 2024 Licensing Round. Seven Petroleum Prospecting Licenses (PPLs) were available in the previous bid round, including PPL-300-DO through PPL-306-DO.
Komolafe revealed that the Commission sought and received approval from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who also serves as the Petroleum Minister, to boost confidence in the transparency and continuity of the bid processes and remove entry barriers. This approval aligns with the President’s commitment to creating attractive investment regimes in the upstream oil and gas sector. The harmonisation includes the approval of attractive fiscal regimes and minimised entry fees by capping the signature bonus payable for the award of the acreages.
Komolafe stated, “It is necessary to ensure that the same bid criteria, in addition to the uniform signature bonus criteria, are applicable for both licensing rounds to promote transparency and provide a level playing field for all bidders.” Given the more attractive criteria for awarding oil blocks, offering all investors the same opportunity to bid for the assets is equitable.
All blocks in the 2022/23 and 2024 Licensing Rounds are now available to interested investors at br.nuprc.gov.ng and br2024.nuprc.gov.ng, respectively. The 2022/23 Mini Bid Round registration phase has been reopened to new applicants. However, prequalified applicants from the 2022/23 Mini Bid Round will not need to undergo a new pre-qualification process, as their technical submissions remain valid and eligible for the 2024 Licensing Round. These applicants may resubmit new commercial bids to take advantage of the more attractive criteria and revise their bid bonds accordingly.
To accommodate this new development, the NUPRC has extended the deadline for registering/submitting pre-qualification documents for the 2024 Licensing Round by 10 days, moving the closing date to July 5, 2024. The Data Access/Data Purchase/Evaluation/Bid Preparation and Submission phase, initially scheduled to open on July 4, 2024, will commence on July 8, 2024, and close on November 29, 2024, as planned.
The NUPRC’s statement emphasized the importance of this harmonisation: “To vacate entry barriers, the Commission had sought and obtained the approval of His Excellency, Mr. President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, who, as Petroleum Minister, in line with his avowed determination to create enabling and attractive investment regimes in the upstream oil and gas sector, approved attractive fiscal regimes and also minimised entry fees for both licensing rounds by putting a cap on the signature bonus payable for the award of the acreages.”
The Commission encourages the public to take advantage of this development and the attractive entry terms and conditions to participate in the licensing exercise. Prequalified applicants from the 2022/23 Mini Bid Round are invited to resubmit new commercial bids to align with the updated criteria. They may also bid for blocks on offer in the 2024 Licensing Round.
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