Government approves amendment of deep offshore bid round

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has amended the deep offshore oil block mini-bid round.

A statement by the commission noted that approval has been granted to the amendment by President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that the development would accommodate the concerns expressed by both local and international investors over the closeness of the schedule to the terminal date of the present administration in the country.

The statement noted that the timing of the exercise was revised by extending the deadline for the submission of Technical/Commercial bids to May 19, 2023, as well as the timeline for concluding activities of contract negotiations and signing between July 3 and 28, 2023.

The Commission Chief Executive, Gbenga Komolafe, stated that the 2022/23 Deep Offshore oil block Mini-bid Round was progressing in accordance with the Bid Round Schedule which has been published as part of the Bid Round Guidelines.

According to him, 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 as well as commercial bid conference and announcement of winners.

The Chairman said the Commission 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.

He noted that constant interrogation and oversight of the process revealed concerns on 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.

The Commission has already announced the requirement for joint venture (JV) arrangements between IOCs and indigenous companies and amended the Guidelines accordingly.

This measure, the commission said would not only address the second concern, but remain in consonance with, and supports the Nigerian Content requirements of the Bid Round.

The extension of time is also to afford interested multinationals and IOCs enough time to enter into, and conclude the necessary joint venture arrangements as well as allow for proper evaluation of relevant data by all bidders, NUPRC noted.