Two months to the March deadline for the completion of bid rounds for new marginal oil fields in Nigeria, the Federal Government is yet to make public the list of oil blocks it plans to offer for sale, in what some investors say is not unconnected with scheming for the 2015 polls.
For the first time in 12 years, government on November 28, 2013, began the process for the second marginal field licensing round, offering 31 on-shore and off-shore fields.
Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, while briefing newsmen in Abuja, said the process for the fields, 16 of which are located onshore, and the remaining 15 in the continental shelf, will be completed in the next four months (March 2014), while urging interested local companies to form consortia and increase their chances of winning the fields.
According to her, “over the next two weeks, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) will undertake a road show to different parts of the country about the programme. This will be followed by a three and half months of competitive bidding process, in line with the federal government’s commitment to openness and transparency in the conduct of business activities in the country.
About two months after this declaration, followed by road shows to kick-start the process, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) is yet to publish the list of oil blocks for sale in the new bid round.
Investigations by Daily Independent showed that the agency and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources neither released the list nor publish it on their websites, triggering worries among prospective bidders.
Some of the bidders who craved anonymity because of the “sensitive nature of the issues” to their “business interests,” however said a version of the list of the juicy blocks is already in circulation among some political heavy weights through their highly connected Nigerian oil companies.
According to one source, a marginal field operator, on the list for example, including “Uzuaku field on Oil Mining Lease (OML) 11 in Ogoni land, the Egbolom field on OML 23 that was previously operated by Shell in Rivers State, three offshore fields on OML 100 (Usoro, Ikong, Ibiom) and two on OML 67 (Amaniba and Ekpat).”
Executive vice chairman, Terra Energy Services Nigeria Limited, Akin Adetunji had earlier urged the DPR to explain why the list has not been published.
“It is only the DPR that knows why the list has not been published. If they are calling for bids and publishing guidelines, they should tell why the list of the assets is not yet out,” he said.
A management staff of DPR confirmed in a telephone interview with Daily Independent that the official list of marginal fields to be auctioned had not been made public.
He however debunked allegations that some prospective bidders whose companies have political heavyweights as stakeholders have seen the list. “What is circulating among some people is not the authentic list,” he said.
DAILY INDEPENDENT
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