Nigeria has concluded plans to start auctioning undeveloped oil and gas blocks from the year 2025.

According to a report on the official website of global news agency Reuters, Nigeria will take this step, prioritising natural gas development to support the country?s commitment to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals.

Reuters, quoting the oil regulator, said on Wednesday that this would be the third auction of blocks since the country passed an expansive oil overhaul law in 2021, part of efforts to ramp up oil production to fund government spending.

?The licensing round is more than a commercial exercise; it is a bold declaration that Nigeria is ready for business,? the head of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, said during a bid conference in Lagos.

According to Komolafe, a round of bidding that Nigeria opened in February for new offshore oil blocks has been completed.

He added that successful bidders would receive licences for their blocks ?within a few months.?

Meanwhile, TotalEnergies Exploration & Production (E&P) Nigeria, Sahara Deepwater Resources Limited, and 15 other oil and gas companies have emerged winners in the 2024 oil bid round conducted by the NUPRC.

The bid round, which sought to allocate lucrative oil exploration and production licences in Nigeria?s offshore and onshore basins, attracted interest from a good number of players.

The winners emerged at the 2024 Licensing Round Commercial Bid Conference on Wednesday in Lagos. SIFAX & RoyalGate Consortium won PPL 300-DO; OceanGate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited won PPL 302-DO and PPL 3007; Homeland Integrated won PPL 304-DO; Hakilat Oil & Gas Consortium Limited defeated NNPC E&P to clinch PPL 305-DO; BISWAL Oil & Gas Limited also beat NNPC E&P to PPL 306-DO. (The Guardian)

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