Nigeria to auction 50 oil exploration licenses
Nigeria is preparing to auction 50 oil and gas exploration blocks in October, the third licensing round in just over a year, the head of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said on Monday.
Tony Chukwueke said the blocks on offer would be located all over Africa’s biggest oil producer — inland, in the Niger Delta and offshore. He said the DPR had not concluded its valuation of the blocks and had yet to finalise dates for the auction.
“We hope to obtain ministerial approval by the end of the month so we can proceed with the bidding round in October,” Chukwueke told Reuters.
He said the DPR would impose stringent conditions on bidders to avoid a repeat of a major auction last August, after which Nigeria received less than half of the $2.6 billion originally pledged because many bidders were unable to pay up.
Among other conditions, bidders would have to put down deposits worth 25 percent of their offers on the day of the auction to secure blocks, he said.
The licensing rounds are part of a strategy to kickstart exploration in new areas, or in blocks that were previously awarded to oil companies that have left them dormant.
“For a long time the Nigerian offshore was neglected because licenses were given to companies that didn’t do much with them,” said Philippe Vasset, editor of the Africa Energy Intelligence newsletter.
“For over a year now the Nigerian government has been trying to make better use of its dormant resources and that’s what these repeated licensing rounds are about,” he said.
Existing license holders have in the past resisted government attempts to revoke contracts, arguing that delays in drilling are sometimes related to funding constraints on joint venture projects with the government or community disputes.
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[...] AuctionInfo.org Nigeria is preparing to auction 50 oil and gas exploration blocks in October, the third licensing round in just over a year, the head of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said on Monday. Tony Chukwueke said the blocks on offer would be located all over Africa’s biggest oil producer — inland, in the Niger Delta and offshore. He said the DPR had not concluded its valuation of the blocks and had yet to finalise dates for the auction. “We hope to obtain ministerial approval by the end of the month so we can proceed with the bidding round in October,” Chukwueke told Reuters. He said the DPR would impose stringent conditions on bidders to avoid a repeat of a major auction last August, after which Nigeria received less than half of the $2.6 billion originally pledged because many bidders were unable to pay up. [...]
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