The Federal Government has expressed anticipation of oil yields from marginal fields in 2022. Mr. Sarki Auwalu, Director/ Chief Executive Officer at the Department of Petroleum Resources, made this known on Wednesday.
In February, the DPR had earlier stated that the government was hoping to generate a minimum of $500m in revenue from the marginal field bid round. He added that the government was already capitalizing on the success of the program.
According to the Director, “Investors are rushing to invest in all the 57 fields on offer. We want to grow the reserves because the growth of the reserves gives us global competitiveness.”
Timipre Sylva, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, had disclosed in March that it had amassed 50 percent signature bonuses from the winners of marginal oil fields before the conclusion of the bid process.
“We expect first oil from most of the marginal fields, for which we just concluded bid round, around January 2022 because all the things that will retard them will go, and we need that money for the country,” Mr. Sarki stated.
The Federal Government, through the DPR, had earlier announced on June 1, 2020, the commencement of the 2020 Marginal Field Bid Round. Fifty-seven fields were open to interested indigenous companies.
The director expressed optimism stating that this was the start of a refining revolution in the country. “We have Dangote refinery coming up; we have BUA refinery,” Mr. Sarki stated. He further added that “by 2024/2025, we may have domestic refining capacity of about two million barrels per day capacity, with NNPC refinery volumes of 445,000bpd, Dangote’s 650,000bpd and BUA’s 200,000bpd and others combined.”