FG May Revoke Non-performing 2021 Marginal Oil Field Licences

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The federal government may revoke majority of the marginal field licences awarded in the 2021 round of the programme over their non-performance, the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has warned.

The government had some 30 months completed the acquisition process of the marginal fields, but since then not much had been heard from the bid winners in terms of discovery of first oil.

An audio of the minister’s comments at the just-concluded Nigeria Economic Summit (NES) in Abuja, sent to journalists by the ministry, indicated that Lokpobiri spoke during the energy roundtable discussion at the two-day event.

Lokpobiri argued that majority of the bid winners were using the licences as ‘souvenirs’, arguing that neither the potential marginal field operators nor the government was benefiting from such inaction.

According to the minister, out of the over 100 licences that were granted in 2021, only three are currently operational, insisting that it was unacceptable, given that Nigeria continues to under-produce its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil allocation.

He insisted that there must be clear deadlines for investments to materialise, a clear departure from the past.

“Now, a few years ago, we did marginal field allocation. Only about three out of  almost 100 marginal fields are producing.  The three years given to them is almost over. They’ll shout my name, but I’m going cancel them.

“ Look, if you’re given a marginal field to operate, it is not for you to keep it as a  souvenir and  keep it in your own study. It doesn’t add any value to you or to our country.

“If today those marginal fields were producing we would have been able to get sufficient feedstock for our modular refineries and also increase our total production quota.

“But everybody is interested in getting the marginal field, but you have no capacity, both financially and technically to be able to put these assets to use,” the minister maintained.