President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the amendment of the timeline for the 2022/2023 Deep Offshore oil block bid round activities. The president approved May 19 as the deadline for the submission of bids while July 28 has been scheduled as the new date to conclude the bidding round. This was made known on Saturday in a statement issued by Engr. Gbenga Komolafe the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The statement reads in part, “President Buhari has approved the amendment of the bid round calendar to accommodate the concerns expressed by both local and international investors over the closeness of the schedule to the terminal date of the present administration in the country.
“Following the approval by President Buhari in his capacity as the Petroleum Resources minister, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has revised the deep offshore oil block bid round schedule by extending the deadline for the submission of technical/commercial bids to May 19, 2023, as well as the timeline for concluding activities of contract negotiations and signing between July 3 and 28, 2023.”
According to the statement, the extension of the timeline would enable interested international oil companies adequate time to participate and conclude the required joint venture agreements with indigenous companies which is in line with the Nigerian Content requirements of the bid round.
The statement further reads, “Outstanding activities for the conclusion of the exercise include the Technical/Commercial bid submission and the Ministerial Consent/Contract Negotiation and Signing.
“The Technical/Commercial bid submission involves data access, purchase, evaluation, bid preparation and submission, bid evaluation and publication of results as well as commercial bid conference and announcement of winners.
“The Commission is fully committed to conducting the bid round in a manner that guarantees the achievement of the objectives of the exercise.”
