No fewer than 36 oil blocks are under concession to international oil companies operating in Nigeria and their indigenous counterparts in the country, latest data from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited showed. An analysis of NNPCL’s new Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements for the 16-Month Period Ended December 31, 2022, indicated that the blocks are located in deepwater (eight), continental shelf (five), land (15), swamp (five) and partially swamp (three) terrains. The blocks are classified into Oil Prospecting Licence and Oil Mining Licence. An OPL is granted by the government to an applicant company registered for exploration and production purposes, while an OML is granted upon confirmation of potential for commercial production of petroleum from the licence. The national oil company’s financial statements outlined the blocks on concession to include OPLs 244, 242, 214, 223, 251 and 325. For the Oil Mining Licences, they include OMLs 154, 139, 119, 60-63, 111, 148, 65, 26, 28 and 30.
Others include OMLs 34, 64, 66, 4, 11, 13, 24, 98, 38, 49, 41, 40, 86, 88, 42, 20 and 51. On the status of the blocks, the report showed that oil exploration was ongoing on nine of the blocks, it classified 20 of the blocks as producing, while three fell under the development category. Some of the blocks had their status merged. NNPC Exploration and Production Limited, a subsidiary of NNPCL group, captured as NEPL in the report, owns 100 per cent interest in nine of the blocks including OPL 242, and OMLs 119, 111, 65, 34, 64, 4, 11 and 24. The national oil company, through NEPL, also controls different levels of interests in other oil blocks, according to figures in its latest consolidated financial statements. It named the operating parties handling the concessions in the commercial arrangement to include Agip, ExxonMobil, Mobil, Ashbert, NEPL, AshbertiNNPC, NAOC (Nigeria Agip Oil Company), Enageed, Seplat and Newcross.
Other partners in the deal include Chevron, Oando, Vescar, SO, Nesten, ESSO, TEPNG, Nexen, FHN, Shoreline JV, SPDC, ND Western and Neconde. Meanwhile, the report noted that “the (NNPCL) Group operates OMLs 11(Aroh field) and 20 (NNPC/Shell JV) and OMLs 49 & 51 (NNPC/Chevron JV) as an agent of the JV partners, These assets are operated for capacity building as the Group is not remunerated for its operatorship.” NNPCL as a group is in the business of prospecting, exploration and production of crude oil and gas through various wholly owned assets, joint venture arrangements and production sharing contracts with other companies in the industry.
Source: punchng.com