President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the amendment of the 2022/2023 Deep Offshore oil block mini-bid process to accommodate concerns raised by potential local and international investors.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) stated in Abuja on Saturday that the amendments would address concerns over the terminal date of the current administration to the closure of the bid schedule.
Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, said in the statement that the amendments would also boost confidence in the transparency and continuity of the process.
Komolafe said following the approval by the president, the NUPRC had extended the deadline for the submission of bids to May 19.
He said it had also revised the timeline for concluding activities of contract negotiations and signing to between July 3 and July 28.
The extension of time would afford interested international oil companies enough time to enter into and conclude necessary joint venture arrangements with indigenous companies.
It would also allow for proper evaluation of relevant data by all bidders, Komolafe said.
He added that the bid round was progressing in accordance with the Schedule which had been published as part of the guidelines.
“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 was well as commercial bid conference and announcement of winners
