New marginal fields to achieve first oil 2022 – FG

By Nneka Nwogwugwu

The Federal Government has said it is expecting most of the marginal fields to start achieving first oil by 2022.

The Director/Chief Executive Officer, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr Sarki Auwalu, said this on Wednesday during a strategic engagement session in Lagos with the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, led by its Executive Secretary, Mr Orji Ogbonnaya-Orji.

The Punch reports that the DPR had said in February that the government was expecting to generate at least $500m in revenue (N189.5bn) from the marginal field bid round.

He said, “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. OPEC will only give you volumes based on your recoverable reserves. We have to grow our reserves, and growing the reserves means more competitiveness for our nation.

“This is where we are: the issuance of the awards to the marginal field bidders – the awardees. And already, we see investment coming. Once we form the SPVs (special purpose vehicles) for field development, you can see capital inflow into Nigeria, and definitely, we see a very bright future. Then, we expect to add more volumes because it is a game of number.

He said, “We give the technical production allowable for each well. We test every well and record it. So, we know where we are getting our volumes between now and 2024.

“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.”

The Federal Government, through the DPR, had announced on June 1, 2020 the start of the 2020 Marginal Field Bid Round, with 57 fields available for indigenous companies and investors interested in participating in the exploration and production business in Nigeria.