Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
Despite recent developments and worries, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has announced the commencement of marginal fields bid rounds for 2020.
The commencement of the 2020 oil bid round is coming 18 years after the first one was conducted in 2002.
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 difficult due to the global pandemic which has led to revenue cuts.
In an announcement made on Monday, the DPR stated that the bid round exercise is open to indigenous companies and investors interested in participating in exploration and production business in Nigeria.
For the 2020 oil bid round exercise, DPR announced that a total of 57 fields located on land, swamp and shallow offshore terrains are on offer.
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 N3 million 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.
With the above, 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 show evidence of technical and managerial capability and must also demonstrate the ability to fully meet the objective of undertaking expeditious and efficient development of a Marginal Field.
Interested stakeholders can access the portal for the exercise: marginal.dpr.gov.ng to access the guidelines for the Award and Operations of Marginal Fields in Nigeria, 2020, and the requirements for participation.
