The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says the era of companies holding on to their oil prospecting licences without developing their assets is now officially over.

The commission chief executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said this when she received the management of the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

Mrs Eyesan, in a statement on Friday, said one of the beauties of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) was Section 94, which compels operators to either commence work or relinquish the licence, a provision commonly referred to as Drill or Drop.

She said that the enforcement of the provision had now attracted more serious investors in the ongoing 2025 licensing rounds, which would increase Nigeria’s petroleum reserves.

“The PIA also opened the opportunities for small and big players because there is now a drill or drop provision in the Act. So, we have cured the problem of uncertainties.

“So, in the past we had operators who had 20-year licenses and sat on these blocks and did absolutely nothing.

“Now, we have moved from that era to drill or drop. So, now we have more assets in the basket which has given us the impetus to go for, if possible, annual bid rounds,” she said.

She also expressed delight over the number of applicants in the 2025 licensing round.

“The figure is quite impressive given that the licensing round guideline stipulates that no company – either as a single firm or as part of a consortium – can bid for more than two out of the 50 oil blocks on offer.

“For the 2025 licensing round we have 50 oil blocks on offer. And the outcome of the pre-qualification submission was a demonstration that there is indeed a very good appetite for the bid round,” she said.

Mrs Eyesan said that, in order to ensure total transparency in the licensing round, the NUPRC had added an extra layer of validation by partnering with a reputable audit firm to interrogate and validate the system.

“The result of that exercise will be made public just to boost investor confidence,” she said.

In his remarks, the director-general of the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone, Foday Mansaray, said the aim of the meeting was to understand Nigeria’s petroleum sector and use the lessons to improve his country’s own hydrocarbon sector.

Mr Mansaray called for stronger and more sustainable energy collaboration between Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

“We are here to collaborate with the NUPRC at a bi-lateral level and learn from Nigeria, our big brothers in the industry.

“We are a small country of just eight million people but very ambitious,” he said while seeking the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). 

(NAN)