By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s marginal oilfields licensing plans may suffer a setback as a court sitting in Lagos has blocked efforts by the federal government to resell two oilfield licences it revoked.
The Ororo field, OML 95, and the Dawes Island Marginal Oil Field, formerly called OML 54, were among 11 licences revoked by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in April.
All 11 were set to be included in a total of 56 fields in the marginal field licensing round expected to start as early as this month.
Nigeria had revoked the licences so these fields could go into the new licensing round – the first marginal field round since 2002 – which the country hopes will boost oil output and bring in much-needed revenues from fees associated with the licences.
But a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Friday restrained them from selling or accepting bids for Dawes Island Marginal Oil Field (Oil Mining Licence 54) pending determination of a suit challenging its status.
Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo granted the order of interim injunction against the DPR following a May 18 ex parte application filed by Eurafric Energy Limited. Eurafric Energy Limited challenged the revocation of Dawes Island and said it had spent money developing the asset.
Potential legal challenges relating to the other licences revoked in April mean that all of the 11 licences could potentially be left out of the round, two sources familiar with the matter said.
The other company, Owena Oil and Gas Limited said in its lawsuit that the DPR revoked its OML 95 licence without recourse to the plaintiff.
Justice Muslim Sule Hassan granted the order of interim injunction against the Petroleum Ministry and Department of Petroleum Resources, who was also joined in the motion ex parte filed by Owena Oil and Gas Ltd.
Nigeria announced that it would delay major licensing rounds due to coronavirus disruptions but said it planned to accelerate the licensing rounds for 56 marginal fields.
The last marginal field bid round in Nigeria was conducted in 2002 when 24 fields were given to 32 companies in 2003, while licensing round was conducted last in 2007.
Nigeria has been planning for a marginal field round of bidding for more than 10 years but with recent development due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it would finally be doing it.
Marginal fields are smaller oil blocks that are typically developed by indigenous companies.
Dipo Olowookere