Nigeria’s unstable financial situation may get better soon as the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has officially declared the commencement of marginal fields bid rounds for 2020.
The flag-off of the 2020 marginal bid round is coming amidst the country’s poor financial situation which has made the implementation of the 2020 budget a difficult task for the present administration with capital and recurrent expenditures already downsized.
The commencement of the 2020 oil bid round is coming 18 years after the first one was conducted in 2002.
Stakeholders in the country’s oil and gas industry have consistently urged the Federal Government to conduct an oil bid round for the purpose of raising revenue to fund some of its critical projects, prior to the official announcement.
Civil Liberty Organisation in a recent stakeholders’ engagement also emphasised on the need to ensure transparency and not allow discretionary powers of the Minister in the process to ensure maximum benefits in the bid rounds.
Announcing that the bid round exercise is open to indigenous companies and investors interested in participating in exploration and production business in Nigeria, the Department of Petroleum Resources also announced that a total of 57 fields located on land, swamp and shallow offshore terrains are on offer, for the 2020 oil bid round exercise.
It added that the exercise which will be conducted electronically, will include expression of interest/registration, pre-qualification, technical and commercial bid submission and bid evaluation.
According to the DPR guidelines on the 2020 oil bid round exercise, and payment by interested bidders shall attract non-refundable chargeable fees as follows, Application fee of N2 million per field, Bid Processing Fee of N3million per field, Data prying fee of $15,000 per field, Data Leasing fee of $25,000 per field, Competent Persons Report of $50,000 and $25,000 for Fields Specific Report.
To this end, interested bidders are expected to pay a total of $115,000 in statutory fees and another N5 million in local currency.
At the official exchange rate of $360/$1, the 57 oil fields on offer gives N2,364,800,000 including the N5 million payment.
The agency added that all application fees and processing fees are expected to be paid into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) while Signature Bonuses are expected to be paid into the Federation Account.
Also, fees for data leasing, data prying, Competent Persons Report (CPR) and Field Specific Report should be paid into the National Data Repository (NDR) account for repayment.
According to the approved guidelines, applicants must present evidence of technical and managerial capability and must also show the ability to fully meet the objective of taking on expeditious and efficient development of a Marginal Field.
