NUPRC screens qualified oil block bidders for 2024 licensing

• Published On: 27 October 2024 at 18:51

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has started the technical screening of financially qualified bidders for the 2024 licensing rounds.

At this point, the commission will evaluate each company's technical ability to operate the oil blocks for which it has bid.

According to the commission's publication, there are 31 oil blocks available, which include 26 deep offshore blocks, three continental shelf blocks, and two onshore blocks.

Notably, 29 of these blocks are located in the Niger Delta region, with two in the Bida Basin.

The NUPRC provided an update on the exercise, which began in May, stating that the Registration and Pre-qualification stage ended on Friday, July 5.

The pre-qualification evaluation began on the same day, with successful bidders being shortlisted based on financial capacity, technical competencies, health, safety, and environmental standards, as well as legal and regulatory compliance.

Successful companies have since received notification of their status.

"The Pre-qualification Evaluation began the same day and concluded on Sunday, July 7, 2024. This resulted in the successful bidders being prequalified. The pre-qualification criteria were based on two main conditions: the companies' financial capacity and viability, as well as their technical competencies. Other criteria considered included the companies' health, safety, and environmental policies, statements, management systems, certificates, and records, as well as their legal and regulatory compliance.

"The commission has concluded the pre-qualification stage and the qualified companies have been notified in line with the guidelines," the news release said.

Currently, the exercise is in the technical and commercial bid phase, with emphasis on data access, purchase, evaluation, and bid preparation and submission.

This is expected to continue until November 29, 2024.

"The current licence round is the Technical and Commercial Bid Phase for Data Access, Data Purchase, Evaluation, Bid Preparation, and Submission, which is expected to last until November 29th, 2024. The Technical Bids will then be evaluated, and qualified technical companies will be notified on or before December 9th, 2024, to submit commercial bids," the commission stated.

Only companies that passed the technical bid evaluation will be eligible for the commercial bid phase, according to the announcement.

"The Commercial Bid Conference, which will mark the conclusion of the bid rounds, will only include companies that passed the Technical Bid Evaluation in accordance with the published evaluation criteria. The Preferred Bidders for any blocks on offer will be determined based on the commercial criteria.

"Upon the grant of the licence, all companies that submit commercial bids will be required to provide performance security in the form of a letter of credit or performance bond issued by a bank acceptable to the commission or parent company guarantee in an amount equivalent to 2.5% of the work commitment to ensure the fulfilment of the minimum expenditure committed to the implementation of the work programme.

"Finally, the winner of a block will be presented for ministerial approval and thereafter contract negotiation," the board of directors stated.

As previously stated, the regulator recently excluded five oil blocks from the ongoing licensing round due to legal disputes. The assets in question are PPL3008, PPL3009, PML51, PPL267, and PPL268.