2024 Licensing Round Offers Us Unprecedented Opportunity To Unlock Nigeria’s Vast Hydrocarbon Potential- NUPRC Boss

The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Engr Gbenga Komolafe, has said that the 2024 Licensing Round has provided an unprecedented opportunity to unlock Nigeria’s vast hydrocarbon potential.

Komolafe, who stated this at the Pre-Bid Conference for 2024 Licensing Round Hosted by NUPRC in Lagos, noted that the move would also enable Nigeria attract investment, and propel the nation towards greater economic prosperity and shared prosperity.

The event is a unique gathering of the oil and gas industry professionals.

Speaking at the progranme, Komolafe said the Conference will undoubtedly enable the NUPRC and other stakeholders to explore the vast opportunities in Nigeria’s 2024 Licensing Round.

He said, ” Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, today we gather to discuss and deliberate on pathways to our collective energy future as we progress through an era of unprecedented challenges and opportunities.

“Under the visionary leadership of His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources, Nigeria has embarked on a transformative agenda that aligns with the most stringent global standards and commitments.

“The recent Presidential Executive Orders issued in March this year, aimed at improving the efficiency and attractiveness of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, were generously targeted to incentivize oil and gas development, introduced measures to balance the implementation of Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, 2010 to ensure that oil and gas development is not hindered by local content bottlenecks.

“The Executive Orders also include directives on reduction of contracting costs and timelines to enhance global competitiveness of our oil and gas industry and achieving higher rate of return on oil and gas investments.

“As you are aware, Nigeria is endowed with abundance of Crude Oil and Condensate Reserves and of Natural Gas Reserves representing above 30 per cent and 33 per cent respectively of the entire Oil and Gas reserves in Africa aside abundant mix of other renewable energy resources.

“In a bid to exploit and optimize this abundant Hydrocarbon resources, Section 7(t) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) empowers the NUPRC, the Industry Regulator to conduct bid rounds for the award of PPLs and PMLs pursuant to the Act and applicable Regulations. It is on this premise that the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) recently announced the commencement of the 2024 Licensing Round at both in-country and outside the shores of the nation.”

Recall that the NUPRC commenced the announcement at the maiden edition of NEITI Dialogue Session, 2024, where the bid processes were thoroughly interrogated by the civil society and the media. This was subsequently followed by the announcement of commencement of the bid round at the 2024 OTC in Houston, roadshow in Miami organized by Zeste Advisory, African Energies Summit in London organized by Frontier Network and Invest in Africa Energy Summit in Paris organized by Energy Capital Power.

Komolafe said the aim of the Commission is to project and attract robust local and foreign investors who will be participating in the bid exercise.

He said the government is committed to conducting the licensing round in a fair, competitive, and transparent manner and ensuring a level playing field for both indigenous and international investors.

The NUPRC Boss, “Our approach is underpinned by the robust legal framework of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021(PIA), which ensures compliance with best practices to boost investors’ confidence.

“In keeping with the provisions of the PIA and regulations made under the Act, the Commission has issued a licensing round guideline and published a licensing round plan for the blocks. This round introduces some meticulously selected blocks across diverse geological spectra — from the fertile onshore basins to the promising continental shelves and the untapped depths of our deep offshore territories.

“Each block has been chosen for its potential to bolster our national reserves and stimulate economic vitality. Subsequently, on 13th May 2024, the Commission opened a dedicated bid portal to allow prospective bidders to register/submit Pre-Qualifications documents on or before the stipulated 25th June 2024 deadline

“Interestingly, the Commission, in partnership with its multi-client partners, has acquired more geological data resulting in the identification of more prospective blocks. The newly identified blocks will be added to the pool of blocks originally scheduled for the bid exercise, and their details will be made available on the bid round portal.

In addition to these blocks, the seven deep offshore blocks from the 2022 Mini-Bid Round Exercise, which cover an area of approximately
6,700 km2 in water depths of 1,150m to 3,100m shall also be concluded along with this licensing round.”

To ensure the seamlessness of the Licensing Round exercise, he said the NUPRC, in collaboration with its National Data Repository and multi-client partners, guarantees access to comprehensive and high-quality geological data, facilitating informed decision-making and strategic investments.

The blocks on offer, he noted, have extensive 2D and 3D seismic data coverage, including multi-beam and analogue data.

Additionally, the NUPRC Boss said a 3D reprocessed Pre-stack time migration of remarkable quality is also available to prospective bidders.

“The availability of advanced seismic datasets and analytical tools via our dedicated portals exemplifies our commitment to excellence and technological advancement.

“The Licencing Round is indeed expected to be a huge success for Nigeria and is a big step towards growing the nation’s oil and gas reserves through aggressive exploration and development efforts, boosting production, expanding opportunities for gas utilisation and end to end development across the value chain, strengthening energy security and economy, providing occasion to gainfully engage the pool of competent companies in the oil & gas sector with multiplier effect in employment opportunities, enabling transfer of technology, value optimisation from our petroleum assets and attracting investments.

“In addition, the Licencing Round presents us with the opportunity to reinforce Nigeria’s commitment to openness and transparency in line with the principles of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI),” he added.

On the global scale, Komolafe told the stakeholders that the Licensing Round will no doubt be beneficial to all of them and will, in the long run, contribute to long-term global energy sufficiency.

He added, “Interestingly, the Licensing Round process was formulated in cognisance of global energy sustainability goals. The implementation process will, in addition to technical and commercial considerations, pay the requisite attention to strategies, processes and implementable plans consistent with net zero carbon emission targets, eliminating gas flares as well as overall environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations.

“The oil and gas industry in Nigeria has embraced the reality of energy transition and is taking strategic position to leverage on the opportunities presented by the unfolding era. However, it is worthy to recognize that recent events around the globe indicate that fossil fuels will continue to be a core part of the global energy mix well into the future, even beyond the set 2050 targets for achieving net-zero carbon emission.

“President Tinubu, as the Honorable Minster of Petroleum Resources has proactively and intuitively vacated barrier to entry for investment in exploration blocks being offered, in both the 2022 deep offshore bid round and the 2024 licensing round, in line with international best practices.”

He added that the 2024 Block Licensing Round is scheduled to last for approximately nine months, and all interested parties are once again invited to visit the dedicated NUPRC portal: www.br2024.nuprc.gov.ng for details on how to participate.