FG Selects 161 Firms for Marginal Oilfields’ Final Bid Round

The federal government, through the Department of Petroleum
Resources (DPR), yesterday announced that 161 successful companies
had been shortlisted to advance to the next and final stage of the
bid round for 57 marginal oilfields.

According to the DPR, a marginal field is any field that has
reserves booked and reported annually to the DPR and has remained
unproduced for a period of over 10 years.

In this case, the 57 marginal fields available for bidding
include 11 fields revoked by the federal government for various
reasons, including non-performance.

Earlier, the regulatory agency had said over 600 companies
applied to be pre-qualified for the bid rounds for the marginal
oilfields, an exercise which was last conducted in 2003.

The ongoing programme attracted widespread interest, prompting
an extension of the deadline to June 21, with an almost 30 per cent
increase in participation during the shift in date.

A statement yesterday by the Head, Public Affairs of the DPR,
Mr. Paul Osu, said the shortlisted firms were selected from the
over 600 entities that applied for pre-qualification.

“The 2020 marginal oilfield bid round process is still ongoing
in line with our published timelines on DPR website and bid
portal.

“The current status is that 161 successful companies have been
shortlisted to advance to the next and final stage of the process,”
Osu said.

He stated that the bid round began on June 1, 2020, adding that
the DPR had put measures in place to ensure that the awardees would
be credible investors with technical and financial capability.

According to him, the objective of the 2020 marginal field bid
round is to deepen the participation of indigenous companies in the
upstream segment of the industry and provide opportunities for
technical and financial partnerships for investors.

Osu said Nigeria last conducted marginal field bid rounds 17
years ago, with 16 of the fields now contributing two per cent to
the national oil and gas reserves, while bringing development to
their host communities in the Niger Delta.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the bid round is being conducted
electronically, including expression of interest/registration,
pre-qualification, technical and commercial bid submission as well
as bid evaluation.

The first bid round that was formally organised by the
government began in 2001 and was concluded in 2003, with 24
licences awarded to 31 indigenous companies at the end of the
exercise.

However, another bid round proposed for 2013 did not hold.

According to the current DPR guidelines, interested bidders were
required to pay a total of $115,000 and N5m in non-refundable
statutory fees comprising an application fee of N2 million per
field.

It also involves a bid processing fee of N3 million per field,
data prying fee of $15,000 per field, data leasing fee of $25,000,
competent persons report of $50,000 and $25,000 for fields specific
report.

The federal government is expected to raise monies from the bid
process and sale of the marginal oilfields to augment a huge
shortfall in its revenue projections, by up to 60 per cent,
occasioned by the instability in the global oil market.

The federal government, through the Department of Petroleum
Resources (DPR), yesterday announced that 161 successful companies
had been shortlisted to advance to the next and final stage of the
bid round for 57 marginal oilfields.

According to the DPR, a marginal field is any field that has
reserves booked and reported annually to the DPR and has remained
unproduced for a period of over 10 years.

In this case, the 57 marginal fields available for bidding
include 11 fields revoked by the federal government for various
reasons, including non-performance.

Earlier, the regulatory agency had said over 600 companies
applied to be pre-qualified for the bid rounds for the marginal
oilfields, an exercise which was last conducted in 2003.

The ongoing programme attracted widespread interest, prompting
an extension of the deadline to June 21, with an almost 30 per cent
increase in participation during the shift in date.

A statement yesterday by the Head, Public Affairs of the DPR,
Mr. Paul Osu, said the shortlisted firms were selected from the
over 600 entities that applied for pre-qualification.

“The 2020 marginal oilfield bid round process is still ongoing
in line with our published timelines on DPR website and bid
portal.

“The current status is that 161 successful companies have been
shortlisted to advance to the next and final stage of the process,”
Osu said.

He stated that the bid round began on June 1, 2020, adding that
the DPR had put measures in place to ensure that the awardees would
be credible investors with technical and financial capability.

According to him, the objective of the 2020 marginal field bid
round is to deepen the participation of indigenous companies in the
upstream segment of the industry and provide opportunities for
technical and financial partnerships for investors.

Osu said Nigeria last conducted marginal field bid rounds 17
years ago, with 16 of the fields now contributing two per cent to
the national oil and gas reserves, while bringing development to
their host communities in the Niger Delta.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the bid round is being conducted
electronically, including expression of interest/registration,
pre-qualification, technical and commercial bid submission as well
as bid evaluation.

The first bid round that was formally organised by the
government began in 2001 and was concluded in 2003, with 24
licences awarded to 31 indigenous companies at the end of the
exercise.

However, another bid round proposed for 2013 did not hold.

According to the current DPR guidelines, interested bidders were
required to pay a total of $115,000 and N5m in non-refundable
statutory fees comprising an application fee of N2 million per
field.

It also involves a bid processing fee of N3 million per field,
data prying fee of $15,000 per field, data leasing fee of $25,000,
competent persons report of $50,000 and $25,000 for fields specific
report.

The federal government is expected to raise monies from the bid
process and sale of the marginal oilfields to augment a huge
shortfall in its revenue projections, by up to 60 per cent,
occasioned by the instability in the global oil market.