Government to kick off marginal oil field bidding in U.S by May

The Federal Government will kick off the bid rounds of marginal oil field in Houston, Texas, United States of America (USA) in May.The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu said in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State at the Nigeria Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair that the campaign for the marginal oil bid round would commence during the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) slated for Houston, Texas, USA, between May 1 and 4 2017.

Kachikwu explained while efforts would be made to conclude the bid rounds in 2019, government would be seeking to reap maximum benefit from the exercise.He also disclosed that the Federal Government would unveil blueprint for the development of Niger Delta in four weeks.

In the meantime, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has ruled out granting licenses to operators of ‘illegal’ refineries.An Assistant Director in the DPR, Wole Akinyosoye, explained that for the Department to grant licence to refinery operator, such operator must have carried out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which none of the operators of the illegal refineries has done.

He disclosed that DPR has granted 38 licences for the establishment of modular refineries in the country and that they are expected to commence operations next year (2018).

The Executive Secretary of Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, has said there is a need for the industry stakeholders to seek understanding of how the expatriate quota works especially for the house and gas sector.