Investors hit pre-qualification deadline for Nigerian mini-bid round applications

Sopuruchi Onwuka

End of month deadline for investors seeking right of play in the country’s petroleum industry comes to an end today as Nigeria puts some seven exploration blocks on aiction.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) had in a programme schedule required invited companies to submit their pre-qualification applications by Jan 31, 2023.

The seven blocks the Petroleum Prospecting Licenses (PPLs) are put up for sale in the country’s north-western offshore include PPL-300-DO, PPL-301-DO and PPL-302-DO in the Nigerian Transform Margin area.

In the deepwater Niger Delta basin, the NUPRC is giving licenses for PPL-303-DO, PPL-304-DO, PPL-305-DO and PPL-306-DO.

Geological services provider for the exercise, PGS, is said to have packaged some of 10 000 sq. km of merged 3D seismic data to guide investors on the prospects of the blocks.

This is composed of various input surveys which have been matched, merged and re-binned onto a common grid resulting in a single, continuous volume of full-stack seismic data in the time domain, document at NUPRC states.

This extensive seismic coverage allows for regional scale understanding of prospectivity in and around the license round acreage. Enhanced datasets are also available to license as GeoStreamer PSTM and MegaSurveyPlus PSTM which have additional products such as angle stacks and gathers.

“Data at NUPRC show that the Niger Delta Basin is dominated by up to 12kilometers (km) of Late Cretaceous to Quaternary aged clastics deposited in an upward coarsening regressive deltaic sequence.

“The main source rocks are Akata Formation marine shales and Lower Agbada Formation paralic shales. Proven reservoirs in the basin are dominated by unconsolidated sandstones of the Agbada Formation deposited as stacked turbidite channel and fan complexes.

“Two main plays are proven in the Nigerian Transform Margin area; the syn-transform Lower Cretaceous and post-transform Upper Cretaceous. Cenomanian-Turonian marine shales provide an oil-prone source rock in the region, with potential reservoirs deposited as shallow and marginal marine sandstones in the Lower Cretaceous, and deep-marine sandstones in the Upper Cretaceous.

“With the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in place, potential bidders benefit from a clear legislative backdrop from NUPRC as well as from a wealth of 3D seismic data from PGS.”

The Oracle Today reports that the NUPRC in December announced the Mini Bid Round 2022 as an opportunity to spur new exploration and drilling activities in the prospective deep waters offshore Nigeria.

The agency declared that the Mini Bid Round would be the first in a series of bid rounds to be held in accordance with the PIA to encourage new investors and investments into the next phase of exploration in the region.

“The Mini Bid Round will be managed by the NUPRC, in line with the provisions of the PIA, as the statutory body responsible for ensuring compliance with petroleum laws, regulations, and guidelines in the Nigerian upstream petroleum industry.

“The National Data Repository (NDR) of NUPRC and our multi-client partners are delighted and ready to support the Mini Bid Round underpinned by high-quality datasets. The blocks have extensive 2D and 3D seismic data coverage, including multi-beam and analog data.  Additionally, a remarkable quality, 3D Mega Survey Plus reprocessed Pre-stack Time Migration (completed October 2022), with angle stacks and gathers is also available to prospective bidders. Links to all data can be accessed via the dedicated NUPRC portal.”

The agency stated that the Mini Bid Round is a market-driven program and would follow a transparent and competitive procurement process designed to attract competent third-party investors from across the world that have the capability and proficiency in operating in deep-water environment.

The Oracle today reports that the nation’s last exploration bid rounds as opposed to marginal field rounds, held in April 2007.

The 2007 bid round held under the Petroleum Act of 1969 received investors’ interests in the 45 blocks in the inland Basins of Anambra, Benue and Chad; the Niger Delta Continental Shelf; Onshore Niger Delta; and Deep Offshore. 

The NUPRC made it clear that the terms of the Mini Bid Round would emphasize reduction in carbon emissions, as well as overall environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations.