The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has removed five oil blocks from the ongoing licensing round due to legal disputes.
The affected assets are PPL3008, PPL3009, PML51, PPL267, and PPL268.
The five blocks were among the 12 initially announced by the NUPRC Chief Executive Officer, Gbenga Komolafe, at the Miami International Roadshow for the 2024 licensing round hosted by the NUPRC in collaboration with the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria and Zetse Advisory & Consulting.
The 12 oil blocks, as earlier listed by Komolafe were PPL 300-CS; PPL 301-CS; PPL 3008; PPL 3009; PPL 2001; PPL 2002; PML 51; PPL 267; PPL 268; PPL 269; PPL 270; and PPL 271.
However, while announcing that the assets on offer would be increased, the NUPRC said five others were removed because of legal disputes.
“Due to newly acquired data from the Multiclients, the Assets on offer in the ongoing Licencing Round will be increased.
“However, PPL3008, PPL3009, PML51, PPL267, PPL268 have been removed from the Bid process due to ongoing litigation,” the NUPRC said in a notice.
“Also, in accordance with the published guidelines, we have earlier indicated that some of the assets on offer should be applied as a single unit, namely: PPL 300-CS & PPL 301-CS, PPL 2000 and PPL 2001,” it added.
The NUPRC boss had in an earlier statement announced the addition of 17 deep offshore oil blocks to the 2024 licensing round.
The NUPRC boss also stated that to allow interested investors to take advantage of the expanded opportunities, the 2024 Licencing Round schedule had been amended and will now close on July 5, 2024, instead of the earlier advertised June 25, 2024.
