DRP to issue award letters for marginal oilfield

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) says it is ready to issue award letters to successful investors in the 2020 marginal field bid round programme.

Marginal fields are smaller oil blocks developed by indigenous companies. They are often discovered on an IOC-owned block where there has been no activity in at least the last 10 years.

Over 600 companies had applied to be pre-qualified for the bid rounds of 57 marginal fields which began on June 1, 2020.

Prior to the time, the last marginal oilfield bid round was held in 2002.

At the time, 24 licenses were awarded to 31 indigenous companies — 11 of which were revoked by the government for inactivity.

In a statement on Sunday, Paul Osu, the head of public affairs at DPR, noted that the award ceremony will be held on Monday.

DPR said successful investors, who will be receiving their award letters, are companies that have fully satisfied all requirements listed in the marginal field bid round guidelines, including full payment of signature bonuses within the specified time frame.

The regulatory agency had earlier sent provisional award letters to the companies requesting payment within 45 days in order to secure the awards.

“The Department of Petroleum Resources will continue to provide transparent regulatory oversight for the oil and gas industry to enable business and create opportunities for investors,” the statement reads.

Sarki Auwalu, head of the DPR, had earlier disclosed that Nigeria will gain $500 million from the signature bonuses on the fields.

Auwalu also said DPR had narrowed the list of bidders to 161 and would mark the first time Nigeria would allow companies to pay oilfield acquisition costs in naira.