President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the extension of the technical/commercial bid submission for the 2022/2023 deep offshore oil block mini-bid round process to 19th May; while the timeline for concluding activities of contract negotiations and signing will now be between 3rd and 28th July 2023.
Announcement the new deadline on Saturday in a statement, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe said that the President’s revision of the process, in his capacity as the Petroleum Resources Minister, is in a bid to boost confidence in its transparency and continuity.
He explained that the amendment of the bid round calendar is to accommodate the concerns expressed by both local and international investors over the closeness of the schedule to the terminal date of the Buhari administration.
Komolafe indicated mini-bid round is progressing in accordance with the schedule, which has been published as part of the bid round guidelines. The outstanding activities for the conclusion of the exercise include the technical/commercial bid submission and the ministerial consent/contract negotiation and signing.
The technical/commercial bid submission involves data access, purchase, evaluation, bid preparation and submission; bid evaluation and publication of results; commercial bid conference; and announcement of winners.
He reiterated that the NUPRC is fully committed to conducting the bid round in a manner that guarantees the achievement of the objectives of the exercise, pointing out that participation is both robust and beneficial to key stakeholders.
“However, constant interrogation and oversight of the process revealed two concerns which the commission felt might impact the success of the exercise if not immediately addressed. The concerns are the plan to conclude the bid process before transition to the new government, and the need to guarantee participation of qualified indigenous companies, working collaboratively with multinationals and the International Oil Companies (IOCs) to leverage technology, funding and expertise in the deep offshore”, Komolafe explained.
The commission has already announced the requirement for joint venture arrangements between IOCs and indigenous companies, and amended the guidelines accordingly. The NUPRC boss said: “This measure not only addresses the second concern, but is also in consonance with, and supports the Nigerian content requirements of the bid round. It is also in accordance with Section 16(1)(a) of the Nigerian constitution which provides that resources of the nation shall be harnessed in a manner that promotes national prosperity and efficient, dynamic and self-sustaining economy”.
According to him, the extension of time is also to afford interested multinationals and IOCs enough time to enter into, and conclude the joint venture arrangements, as well as allow for proper evaluation of relevant data by all bidders.
