The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory (NUPRC), on Tuesday, the 2020 Marginal Field Bid Round exercise raked generated about N200 billion and another $7 million revenue into the Federal Government (FG) coffers.
This was even as it presented Petroleum Prospecting Licence (PPL) to the successful awardees in the 2020 Marginal Field Bid Round, in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021.
The Commission’s Chief Executive, Gbenga Komolafe, in his address at the event in Abuja said historically, the marginal fields award initiative began in 1999 and was borne “out of the need to entrench the indigenisation policy of Government in the Upstream sector of the oil and gas industry and build local content capacity.”
In addition, he said the initiative was also targeted at creating employment opportunities and encouraging increased capital inflow to the sector.
“Since its inception, a total of thirty (30) fields have been awarded, with seventeen (17) currently producing. A breakdown of the allocation of the fields to indigenous operators is as follows: two (2) fields awarded in 1999, twenty-four (24) in 2003/2004, one (1) each in 2006 and 2007, and two (2) in 2010. Ten (10) years later, in 2020, fifty-seven (57) fields were put up for bidding,” he said.
However, he reiterated that Section 94(9) of the PIA has put an end to marginal field awards and replaced by award of Petroleum Prospecting License (PPL).
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
His words: “it is significant to note that the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act has brought an end to the era of Marginal Field awards. Section 94(9) of the Act states that “No new Marginal Field shall be declared under this Act”. Accordingly, the Minister shall now award PPL on undeveloped fields following an open, fair, transparent, competitive, and non-discriminatory bidding process in line with Sections 73 and 74 of the Act.”
On the other hand, Komolafe noted the impact of the upswing in the crude oil price which does not reflect in the nation’s revenue earnings due to disruptions in the country’s national oil production owing to sabotage, theft, and other operational challenges.
In view of this, he urged potential Licensees to take advantage of the current market realities and quickly bring their fields to production.
Consequently, he assured that the Commission will continue to provide a predictable and enabling regulatory environment to operators in line with, “our technical and commercial regulatory mandates with a view to optimizing the development and exploitation of the nation’s hydrocarbon resources.”
NUPRC rakes N200bn, $7m revenue from 2020 marginal field bid round
WAVE of defections across the major political parties in the country may have significantly altered…
In a frantic pace to expedite action on claims settlement, the Nigerian insurance industry is…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), deploying various reform measures, has curtailed the once-wide…
Entrepreneurship is essentially about problem solving through creative thinking. Creativity is thinking outside of…
THE African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched a new five-year Country Strategy Paper (CSP) for…
This website uses cookies.