The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has given a 48-hour deadline for new investors to register for the 2024 oil block licensing bid round.

Speaking at the 2024 Nigerian Oil and Gas Energy Conference (NOG) on Wednesday in Abuja, Gbenga Komolafe, chief executive officer (CEO) of NUPRC, said the registration and submission of pre-qualification documents would close on July 5.

“Registration closes at 12 midnight Friday, July 5, 2024,’’ he said.

According to Komolafe, the licencing round announcement, the launch of the bid portal and advertisement, which commenced on May 29, ended on May 10.

He said technical and commercial bid submission including “data access/data purchase/evaluation/bid, preparation and submission, technical bid, evaluation/publications of pre-qualified companies and commercial bid conference” would begin August 7 and end December 13.

Komolafe said ministerial consent, as well as contracting and negotiation, would start on December 16 and end on January 29, 2025.

The CEO said the total number of available blocks was 31, with five blocks currently under litigation.

Speaking about significant achievements in boosting production, he said the commission conducted a wide integrated study on the reactivation of shut-in strings in Nigeria to unlock 700 million barrels of oil per day (mb/d).

He said approvals were granted for well interventions and re-entry operations that could yield over six million barrels of oil and five trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas.

Komolafe said the field development plans for additional production were approved from four fields with a combined peak potential of about 125 million bpd.

With a combined capacity of over 250 million bpd, he said the commission expedited the approval and commissioning of four alternative crude oil evacuation routes (ACOER).

The commission, Komolafe said, has commenced the implementation of the “drill or drop” philosophy to optimise sustainable field development in line with provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act. 

“The commission has engaged the E&P Companies on unlocking about 57 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of uncommitted or unmonetised gas reserves,” he said.

“We developed and unveiled a template guiding the activities for Domestic Crude Oil Supply Obligation (DCSO) to ensure adequate and uninterrupted feedstock to all domestic refineries in Nigeria.”

Komolafe added that NUPRC has issued the annual domestic gas delivery obligation (DGDO) to all lessees to spur gas production growth.