Business
17 New Oil Blocks Up For Grabs Via Bidding
There would be additional 17 deep offshore oil blocks to the 2024 Licensing Round for oil fields in Nigeria.
Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, disclosed this at the pre-bid conference for the 2024 licencing round in Lagos, on Tuesday.
Providing updates on the 2022/2023 and 2024 licencing rounds, Komolafe, had in a statement he signed and issued in Abuja same day, revealed that 17 deep offshore blocks have been added to the 2024 Licensing Round.
He said, “In pursuit of the commission’s commitment to derive value from the country’s abundant oil and gas reserves and increase production, the commission has been working assiduously with multi-client companies to undertake more exploratory activities to acquire more data to foster and encourage further investment in the Nigerian upstream sector.
“As a result of additional data acquired in respect of deep offshore blocks, the commission has added 17 deep offshore blocks to the 2024 Licensing Round. Further details on the blocks can be found on the bid portal.”
Offering graphic details, Komolafe stated thus, “by the published guidelines, we had earlier indicated that some of the assets on offer should be applied for as clusters, namely: PPL 300-CS & PPL 301-CS, PPL 2000 and PPL 2001. Bidders are hereby advised that they may, at their option, bid for those blocks as clusters or as single units.”
For clarification, he said bidders should refer to the Frequently Asked Questions Sections of the 2022/23 and 2024 Licensing Round portals, or contact the upstream regulatory agency.
The NUPRC boss also disclosed that to allow interested investors to take advantage of the expanded opportunities, the 2024 Licencing Round schedule had been amended.
“Registration/submission of pre-qualification documents which was initially scheduled to close on June 25, 2024, has been extended by 10 days and will now close on July 5, 2024.
“Data access/data purchase/evaluation/bid preparation and submission which was initially scheduled to open on July 4, 2024, and close on 29/11/24 will now start on July 8, 2024, and close on 29/11/24 as previously scheduled.
“All other dates in the published 2024 licencing round schedule remain the same unless otherwise communicated,” he added.
He stated that to vacate entry barriers, the commission had sought and obtained the approval of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who, in his capacity as petroleum minister, approved attractive fiscal regimes and also minimised entry fees for both licencing rounds by putting a cap on the signature bonus payable for the award of the acreages.
According to him, “Consequently, it is necessary to ensure that the same bid criteria (in addition to the uniform signature bonus criteria) are applicable for both licencing rounds, to promote transparency and provide a level playing ground for all bidders.
“Since the criteria for the award of the oil blocks are now much more attractive than they initially were during the 2022/23 Mini Bid Round, it is in the interest of equity and fair play to give all investors the same opportunity to bid for the assets,” Komolafe stated.
Based on this, he declared that all blocks in the 2022/23 and 2024 Licencing Rounds were now available to all interested investors the websites developed for the exercise by the NUPRC, adding that the 2022/23 Mini Bid Round registration phase had been reopened to new applicants.
“The public is therefore invited to take advantage of this development and attractive entry terms and conditions and participate in the exercise.
“However, all the pre-qualified applicants published on the 2022/23 Mini Bid Round portal will not be required to go through a new pre-qualification process, as their technical submissions remain valid and eligible even for the 2024 Licencing Round.
“They may, however, wish to re-submit new commercial bids to take advantage of the more attractive criteria applicable to both licencing rounds and revise their bid bonds to adapt to the new bid criteria. They are also free to bid for blocks on offer in the 2024 Licencing Round,” Komolafe stated.
Recall that some deep offshore blocks had been put on offer for the 2022/23 mini-bid round, among other blocks cutting across onshore.
Continental shelf and deep offshore terrains were also put on offer for the Nigeria 2024 Licencing Round.
Precisely on May 8, the Nigerian Government invited investors to bid for 12 oil blocks and seven deep offshore assets in the 2024 marginal fields bid round.
In addition, on June 12, 2024, it was reported that the Federal government had increased the number of oil blocks on offer in the 2024 marginal bid round.
Business
Dangote, Gates Headline Relaunch Of Capital Campaign For Africa
The Capital Campaign for the Africa Center was relaunched at the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Wednesday.
To highlight its importance, Africa’s richest man, President Dangote Group, Alh Aliko Dangote and Co-Chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates led other notable captains of industry from Africa and the United States of America (USA) graced the event.
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Prominent among those spotted therein include, Chairman, Oriental Energy Resources, Mohammed Indimi; Group Executive Director, Commercial Operations, Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Fatima Aliko Dangote and Co-Chair, Africa Center, Chelsea Clinton.
Also the elite group are, President/Chief Executive Officer, DIL, Aliko Dangote; Co-Chair, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates; Commissioner for Cultural Affairs, New York City, Laurie Cumbo and Chairman, Afreximbank, Benedict Oramah.
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Business
JUST IN: CBN Pushes Economy Harder With Steep Interest Rate Hike To 27.25%
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee has raised the benchmark interest rate to 27.25 percent, marking a 50 basis point increase from the previous rate of 26.75 percent set in July 2024.
Announcing the decision after the committee’s fifth meeting of the year at the CBN headquarters in Abuja, Governor Olayemi Cardoso said the move to tighten monetary policy was unanimously supported by all members.
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The monetary policy rate, which serves as the foundation for all other interest rates in the economy, has now seen an 8.5 percent increase under the current leadership, which took office a year ago.
However, the MPC maintained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +500 to -100 basis points.
It also raised the Cash Reserve Ratio for deposit money banks by 500 basis points to 50 percent and for merchant banks by 200 basis points to 16 percent, up from 14 percent, while keeping the liquidity ratio unchanged at 30 percent.
Cardoso said, “The committee was unanimous in its decision to further tighten policy and thus decided as follows, one: raise the MPR to 27.25 per cent.
“The MPC decided to retain the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at plus 500 to minus 100 basis points. It also raised the Cash Reserve Ratio of deposit Money banks by 500 basis points to 50 per cent from 45 per cent and merchant banks by 200 basis points to 16 per cent from 14 per cent and retain the liquidity ratio at 30 per cent.”
More to follow…………