Legal hurdles stall Nigeria’s oil block auction as five licenses withdrawn

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Nigeria’s plan to attract investment through its 2024 oil block licensing round has hit a snag. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has been forced to withdraw five blocks from the bidding process due to ongoing legal disputes.

This development comes just as investor registration kicked off for the program. The withdrawn blocks, identified by their Prospecting License (PPL) and Mining Lease (PML) numbers, are PPL3008, PPL3009, PML51, PPL267, and PPL268. These were part of the original 12 blocks announced by NUPRC chief executive Gbenga Komolafe earlier this year.

However, while announcing that the assets on offer would be increased, the NUPRC said five others were removed because of legal disputes.

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“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.

The NUPRC added, “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.”

The news raises questions about the effectiveness of Nigeria’s oil licensing process. Streamlining procedures and ensuring clear titles for blocks could be crucial to attracting much-needed investment in the sector.

The NUPRC says it will be increasing the number of blocks on offer despite this setback. Whether this offsets the withdrawal of potentially lucrative assets and the associated legal uncertainties remains to be seen.

Tags: NUPRC, Oil Wells, NNPC, Nigeria, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, Bola Tinubu, PPL 300-CS & PPL 301-CS, PPL 2000, PPL3008, PPL3009, PML51, PPL267, PPL268