The Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Firm Exploration and Manufacturing Restricted, a subsidiary of the Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Firm Restricted, misplaced out within the just-concluded oil licensing bid spherical as winners emerged on Wednesday.

The winners have been formally introduced by the Chief Govt of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Fee, Gbenga Komolafe, on the licensing spherical industrial bid convention held in Lagos.

Through the digital bidding course of, it was unveiled that the NNPC E&P bid for 3 deep offshore belongings – PPL 303, PPL 305, and PPL 306 – which it misplaced to different firms.

Nevertheless, Komolafe mentioned NNPCL is a reserved bidder for the three belongings.

TotalEnergies gained a block out of the 2 it contested for.

Within the closing end result, SIFAX & RoyalGate Consortium gained PPL 300-DO; OceanGate Engineering Oil and Gasoline Ltd gained PPL 302-DO and PPL 3007; Homeland Built-in gained PPL 304-DO; Hakilat Oil & Gasoline Consortium Ltd defeated NNPC E&P to clinch PPL 305-DO; BISWAL Oil & Gasoline Ltd additionally defeated NNPC E&P to win PPL 306-DO.

After having a tie, MRS Oil & Gasoline later defeated NNPC E&P to win PPL 303-DO.

Equally, Petroli Power Advertising and Provide Ltd bought PPL 269; Sahara Deepwater Sources Ltd gained each PPL 270 and PPL 271; Panout Oil & Gasoline beat TotalEnergies and three different bidders to safe PPL 300/301 CS. Panout additionally claimed PPL 3015.

In the identical vein, TotalEnergies E&P gained PPL 2000/2001.

As sole bidders, BISWAL gained PPL 2002; First E&P has PPL 2003 and PPL 2006; Deywayles Worldwide Restricted secured PPL 2004; Applefield Oil & Gasoline bought PPL 2005; R28 Holdings Ltd gained PPL 2007 and PPL 3011; Tulcan Power E&P gained PPL 2008 and 3012; Broron Power secured PPL 2009; Hakilat Oil & Gasoline claimed PPL 3016; and Applefield Oil & Gasoline gained PPL 3017.

Addressing newsmen after the train, Komolafe disclosed that out of the 31 blocks on supply, 25 have been bid for, saying the remaining six can be included within the subsequent bid spherical.

The fee’s chief government introduced that there shall be one other oil licensing bid spherical in 2025.

In line with him, the fee made licensing rounds an annual train to spice up oil manufacturing.

Komolafe mentioned the 2025 train would concentrate on unexplored belongings.

“Girls and gents, whereas we’re pleased with our current achievements as trade stakeholders, we should stay aware of the challenges forward. Declined manufacturing ranges and failed international competitors demand strategic motion. Apparently, the Petroleum Business Act has given us a novel alternative to rework the trade, entice investments, and place Nigeria as a forefronter.

“To this finish, I’m happy to announce that the NUPRC will launch one other licensing spherical within the 12 months 2025. Constructing on the teachings discovered from this 12 months’s spherical, the 2025 train will concentrate on found and undeveloped fields, fallow belongings, and prioritise pure gasoline improvement to help Nigeria’s dedication to UN Sustainable Growth Objectives,” he introduced.

Explaining additional, Komolafe mentioned the regulator’s dedication has been to revive buyers’ confidence within the trade, saying this it has achieved diligently by guaranteeing that its actions are in alignment with the provisions of the Petroleum Business Act.

“What we’re doing right here right this moment will not be a matter of discretion by the fee or the statutory provisions of the Petroleum Business Act. The statutory provisions of the Petroleum Business Act present that the fee ought to conduct licensing rounds.

“The regulation didn’t make it annual, however to make sure that we develop, protect, and optimise our hydrocarbon assets, as I mentioned, we’re dedicated to annual licensing rounds. And that’s why I mentioned that after this (2024) train, we’ll start one other one in 2025,” he emphasised.

The NUPRC boss added that the fee has began the restoration of idle belongings primarily based on the ’drill or drop’ provision of the Petroleum Business Act.

“There’s a provision within the Petroleum Business Act that speaks to ‘drill or drop’. So, now we have been having engagements with the trade to make sure that unexplored areas and assets are harvested again into the basket; and now we have achieved this. We intend to rebuild these idle belongings, as a result of a whole lot of our belongings stay idle, and that’s not the intent of the Petroleum Business Act.

“In order a fee and as a regulator, now we have began activating the drill or drop provisions of the Petroleum Business Act, which is meant to make sure that our belongings don’t simply stay idle. So, we’re harvesting them into the basket, and we’ll be sure that they go for bidding to bidders within the subsequent licensing spherical,” he acknowledged.

Talking on the 2024 bid spherical, Komolafe described it as a history-making occasion within the nation.

He mentioned this was the primary time the NUPRC carried out a bid spherical adjudged to be clear and in step with worldwide greatest practices.

“In our historical past of virtually seven many years of exploration and manufacturing within the Nigeria upstream sector, that is the primary time that we’re conducting an train that may very well be adjudged to be in alignment with the worldwide greatest practices by way of the licensing spherical. Because the assumption of workplace, we promised the nation that we’d conduct the affairs of the Nigerian oil and gasoline trade in alignment with the prescriptions of the regulation.

“Don’t overlook that the Petroleum Business Act truly mandates the fee to make sure that bidding for oil blocks in Nigeria, as towards being discretionary, shall solely be achieved in a good, clear, and aggressive method.

“So, it’s a dictate of the regulation, it’s a prescription of the regulation to make sure that licensing spherical have to be achieved in a good, clear and aggressive method. So the availability of our Petroleum Business Act is in alignment with greatest practices. So what now we have achieved right this moment, and a transparent departure from historical past, is to indicate that as a nation we are able to truly do issues proper and that we are able to conduct an train in a clear method.

“As you members of the press can see, even bidders, firms that don’t win, they nonetheless decide the train as truthful and clear. The transparency with which now we have carried out this train will free us from what had been the follow the place after this type of train you see a barrage of litigations,” he acknowledged.

He added that the fee expects fewer litigations and really minimal complaints, saying “Nothing might be extra clear than what you possibly can see along with your eyes”.

The CCE boasted, “We’ve carried out this train leveraging know-how in a way that every one individuals have been there and the announcement is on a real-time foundation like you’ve got seen. They confirmed their submission, they usually confirmed the winners and the losers have been there.

“So, we don’t anticipate any criticism from anyone. The train is absolutely recorded and all it requires to show if anyone raised any criticism is simply the pc printout.”

He emphasised that one solution to develop the nationwide oil reserves and improve day by day manufacturing is to conduct the licensing spherical.

He disclosed that the subsequent step is to difficulty provisional letters of award to the winners.

“We name it provisional as a result of the provisional phrases of the award shall be clearly acknowledged in that provide. So we anticipate that the offeree can pay the signature bonus. Now, emphasis is positioned on the work programme. We anticipate that when folks get their supply letters, there’s a specified time inside which they’re anticipated to pay the signature bonus and anticipated to operationalise the work programme.

“So, what now we have achieved right this moment implies that by the point the winners start to operationalise and implement the phrases of the award, what you will see is that you will unlock different reserves as a result of they will go by means of exploration. They’re going to make extra discoveries, and people discoveries will optimise the federation reserves,” he maintained.

He recalled that the fee promised the nation to conclude the 2024 train, saying, “We now have efficiently and transparently concluded it. And by 2025, by the grace of God, we intend to start one other recent run. And that’s being pushed largely by the truth that we’re implementing one other provision of the Petroleum Business Act that gives that unexplored areas ought to be yielded into the basket.”

The NUPRC Authorized Adviser, Olayemi Anyanechi, echoed that beneath the doctrine of ’drill or drop’, bidders, who’re holding on to unexplored areas will lose them in 2025.

She mentioned winners who fail to do the needful inside a time-frame would lose their blocks to reserved bidders.