Business

FG Offers 17 New Oil Blocks For Bidding

Published

2 years ago

June 19, 2024

The Federal Government, on Tuesday, announced the addition of 17 deep offshore oil blocks to the 2024 Licensing Round for oil fields in Nigeria.

Recall that some deep offshore blocks were recently put on offer for the 2022/23 mini-bid round and other blocks which cut across onshore, continental shelf and deep offshore terrains were also put on offer for the Nigeria 2024 Licencing Round.

Precisely on May 8, the government invited investors to bid for 12 oil blocks and seven deep offshore assets in the 2024 marginal fields bid round.

Also on June 12, 2024, it was reported that the Federal government had increased the number of oil blocks on offer in the 2024 marginal bid round.

The Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, disclosed this at the pre-bid conference for the 2024 licencing round in Lagos.

Providing updates on the 2022/2023 and 2024 licencing rounds, Komolafe, in a statement he signed and issued in Abuja on Tuesday, said 17 deep offshore blocks have been added to the 2024 Licensing Round.

He said, “In pursuit of the commission’s commitment to derive value from the country’s abundant oil and gas reserves and increase production, the commission has been working assiduously with multi-client companies to undertake more exploratory activities to acquire more data to foster and encourage further investment in the Nigerian upstream sector.

“As a result of additional data acquired in respect of deep offshore blocks, the commission has added 17 deep offshore blocks to the 2024 Licensing Round. Further details on the blocks can be found on the bid portal.”

Komolafe further stated that “by the published guidelines, we had earlier indicated that some of the assets on REoffer should be applied for as clusters, namely: PPL 300-CS & PPL 301-CS, PPL 2000 and PPL 2001. Bidders are hereby advised that they may, at their option, bid for those blocks as clusters or as single units.”

For clarification, he said bidders should refer to the Frequently Asked Questions Sections of the 2022/23 and 2024 Licensing Round portals, or contact the upstream regulatory agency.

The NUPRC boss also stated that to allow interested investors to take advantage of the expanded opportunities, the 2024 Licencing Round schedule had been amended.

He said, “Registration/submission of pre-qualification documents which was initially scheduled to close on June 25, 2024, has been extended by 10 days and will now close on July 5, 2024.

“Data access/data purchase/evaluation/bid preparation and submission which was initially scheduled to open on July 4, 2024, and close on 29/11/24 will now start on July 8, 2024, and close on 29/11/24 as previously scheduled.

“All other dates in the published 2024 licencing round schedule remain the same unless otherwise communicated.”

He stated that to vacate entry barriers, the commission had sought and obtained the approval of President Bola Tinubu, who, as petroleum minister, approved attractive fiscal regimes and also minimised entry fees for both licencing rounds by putting a cap on the signature bonus payable for the award of the acreages.

“Consequently, it is necessary to ensure that the same bid criteria (in addition to the uniform signature bonus criteria) are applicable for both licencing rounds, to promote transparency and provide a level playing ground for all bidders.

“Since the criteria for the award of the oil blocks are now much more attractive than they initially were during the 2022/23 Mini Bid Round, it is in the interest of equity and fair play to give all investors the same opportunity to bid for the assets,” Komolafe stated.

Based on this, he declared that all blocks in the 2022/23 and 2024 Licencing Rounds were now available to all interested investors the websites developed for the exercise by the NUPRC, adding that the 2022/23 Mini Bid Round registration phase had been reopened to new applicants.

“The public is therefore invited to take advantage of this development and attractive entry terms and conditions and participate in the exercise.

“However, all the pre-qualified applicants published on the 2022/23 Mini Bid Round portal will not be required to go through a new pre-qualification process, as their technical submissions remain valid and eligible even for the 2024 Licencing Round.

“They may, however, wish to re-submit new commercial bids to take advantage of the more attractive criteria applicable to both licencing rounds and revise their bid bonds to adapt to the new bid criteria. They are also free to bid for blocks on offer in the 2024 Licencing Round,” Komolafe stated.

Business

Report Any MRS Filling Stations Selling Fuel Above N739 Per Liter — Dangote Refinery To Nigerians

Published

35 seconds ago

December 23, 2025

Editor

Dangote Refinery has urged Nigerians to report any MRS filling station outlets nationwide selling fuel above the N739 per liter announced price.

The company disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

The refinery insisted that its petrol being at retail outlets remain N739 per liter while the gantry price is N699.

It further called on other filling station owners to patronize its refined petroleum products at the N699 rate.

“We also call on other petrol station operators to patronize our products so that the benefits of this price reduction can be passed on to Nigerians across all outlets, ensuring broad-based relief and a more stable downstream market.”

Recall that Aliko Dangote, the president of Dangote Refinery, had pegged the retail price of his petrol at a maximum of N740.

DAILY POST reports that MRS filling and other filling stations had reduced fuel prices to between N739 and N912 per liter in Abuja.

However, reports emerged that some MRS filling stations were selling above the N739 per liter announced price benchmark.

Business

Naira Records Significant Appreciation Against US Dollar

Published

20 minutes ago

December 23, 2025

Editor

The Naira recorded significant appreciation against the United States dollar on Monday at the official foreign exchange market to begin the week ahead of Yuletide on a good note.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s data showed that the Naira strengthened to N1,456.56 per dollar on Monday, up from N1,464.49 traded on Friday last week, 19th December 2025.

This means that the Naira gained N7.93 against the dollar when compared with the N1,464.49 was exchanged as of Friday, December 19, 2025. DAILY POST reports that Monday’s gain at the official FX market is the first since December 15th.

Business

CBN Revokes Licences Of Aso Savings, Union Homes As NDIC Begins Deposit Payments

Published

1 week ago

December 16, 2025

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revoked the operating licences of Aso Savings and Loans Plc and Union Homes Savings and Loans Plc, citing persistent regulatory infractions and deepening financial distress in the two primary mortgage banks.

The revocation, which took effect on December 15, 2025, was carried out under Section 12 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 and Section 7.3 of the Revised Guidelines for Mortgage Banks in Nigeria, the CBN said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

According to the apex bank, the affected institutions failed to meet minimum paid-up share capital requirements, had insufficient assets to cover their liabilities, recorded capital adequacy ratios below prudential thresholds, and consistently breached regulatory directives.

“The CBN remains committed to its core mandate of ensuring financial system stability,” a statement, signed by the apex bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali said.

Following the licence revocation, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) was appointed liquidator of the defunct banks in line with the law.

The Corporation said it has commenced the liquidation process and begun verification and payment of insured deposits to customers.

Under the deposit insurance framework, depositors are entitled to receive up to two million naira per depositor, with payments made through BVN-linked alternate bank accounts.

Depositors with balances above the insured limit will receive the initial two million naira while the remaining sums will be paid as liquidation dividends after the realisation of the banks’ assets and recovery of outstanding loans.

The NDIC said depositors may submit claims either online or physically at designated branches of the closed banks, while creditors will be paid after all depositors have been fully settled, in accordance with statutory provisions.

The two mortgage banks have faced prolonged operational challenges, including depositor complaints, governance concerns, and delisting from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) in 2024 for failure to submit audited financial statements for more than six years.

The CBN assured the public that the action was taken to strengthen the mortgage banking sub-sector and protect depositors, adding that banks whose licences have not been revoked remain safe and sound.

This means the two financial institutions can no longer operate as licensed financial institutions.