Nigeria oil licence auction sees high interest, Regulator Reports

Nigeria is set to expand the scope of its 2024 oil licensing auction and extend the deadline for submissions due to significant investor interest, the country's oil regulator informed Reuters on Thursday. Initially, Nigeria offered 19 onshore and deepwater oil blocks in April, but has now added 17 more deep offshore blocks to the auction.

Gbenga Komolafe, head of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), stated, "We have conducted additional exploratory activities, resulting in more data that allows us to broaden our offerings and extend the deadline, leading to substantial investor interest."

The registration deadline, originally set for June 25, has been pushed back by 10 days, with bid submissions opening on July 8 and closing on November 29. This move aims to further develop Nigeria's estimated reserves of 37.5 billion barrels of crude oil and 209.26 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

To make the offer more appealing, the regulator has significantly reduced the entry fees, known as the signature bonus, from approximately $200 million per field to $10 million. The process has been promised to be fair and transparent, with online submissions accepted through the NUPRC website. Investors can opt to lease individual oil blocks or clusters.

Nigeria hopes to counteract the redirection of investments towards other African nations such as Angola and Namibia by simplifying the acquisition process for oil blocks. Despite being an OPEC member, Nigeria's oil production has fallen from about 2 million barrels a day a decade ago to just over 1.4 million barrels per day currently. Major oil companies are shifting focus from onshore fields, which are susceptible to sabotage and spill-related compensation claims, to more stable deepwater fields.