The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), has concluded plans to withdraw the licenses of marginal field holders for their inabiility to develop the fields by March 2015.The fields was awarded to them by government on 2003, Daily Independent has gathered.
The deadline for March 2015 applies only to “The Class of 2003”, namely the 24 Marginal fields awarded to 31 companies in February 2003. From late 2003 to December 2004, Farm out agreements was executed between those companies and the oil majors in whose acreages these fields were located
George Osahon, Nigeria’s Director of Petroleum Resources, had publicly complained about a trend whereby Nigerian companies to gain access to acreage only to hold on to them without development. “Out of 77 licenses awarded in bid rounds between 2005 and 2007”, Osahon only one has been developed to first oil”. He lamaented.
‘’Seven of those 24 fields are have sustained production of oil and gas after the first oil and an eighth field reached “first gas” in December 2013. There are 10 other fields whose operators have moved rig equipment and, in a couple of cases, temporary production facility, on site, but have either had poor Drill Stem Test results, experienced severe hitches while drilling, produced only sporadically or made considerable work-in-progress but failed to reached full development. The remaining fields have however, not moved beyond the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) stage’’ he noted.
He listed Sahara Energy Ltd’s Tsekelewu field, Eurafric’s Dawes Island, Guarantee’s Ororo field, Swiftoil’s Amoji/Igbolo/Matsogo triad and International Energy’s Ofa field Fields that have remained undeveloped since 2004 when the deal was sealed.
‘’Some of the owners of these fields are frantically having conversations with technical and financing partners, while a host of financiers are not ready to help them”, he further stated.
Source : Independent
