Indications have emerged that emerged that the government of Bayelsa has not given up on the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 46 licence it lost to revocation by Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
Bayelsa
Oil Company had reapplied for the licence during the last bidding by DPR but
the bid turned out unsuccessful.
Tthe
OML 46 asset held by Bayelsa government located within onshore swamps in
Bayelsa was won in 2013 through a bidding process conducted by the DPR.
Meanwhile,
the DPR on April 6, 2020 announced the revocation of 11 of the 13 marginal fields’
licenses it issued to indigenous oil firms to build capacity and promote Nigerians’
participation in the oil sector.
Reacting
on the development, Gov Douye Diri, of Bayelsa had on Wednesday expressed shock
over the revocation and unsuccessful bid for the recent marginal fields rounds
concluded by the DPR in May 2021.
Diri
spoke on the oil mining licence at the weekly executive council meeting at
Government House, Yenagoa.
The
DPR had on May 31, 2020 awarded 57 marginal field licences to successful
operators that participated in the bidding rounds process which ecluded the
Bayelsa Oil Company, which hitherto held the asset.
Diri
said the marginal oil field remained a prized asset of the state to which it is
sentimentally attached and called on the federal government to reconsider its
decision on the matter.
.
He
called the Department Petroleum Resources (DPR) Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) and the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre
Sylva, to consider returning the oil field to Bayelsa.
Diri,
noted that the people and government of Bayelsa were emotionally and
sentimentally attached to it, saying is the only oil asset owned by the state.
“There
has been this issue of the Bayelsa State-owned Atala Oil Field. We kept a
studied silence over the matter because we needed to have all the information
that led to the revocation of the licence on our state-owned asset.
“Bayelsans
are emotionally and sentimentally attached to that asset as it is the only oil
asset we own even though it is a marginal oil field. It was a surprise and rude
shock to us that the licence was revoked.
“Part
of what I have done in the last one week of my absence was to state the
position of the Bayelsa State Government, which I did very clearly to the
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“So
our position on Atala Oil Field is that it is a prized asset of Bayelsa State
and that revocation should be cancelled.
“Unequivocally,
we have said so and we believe that those in authority would see reason why we
are sentimentally and emotionally attached to the Atala Oil Field.
“Bayelsa
State government might not have the financial capacity or the technical
know-how.
“But
the government is ready to partner financial and technical experts to ensure
that the field goes into full production.
“Therefore,
let me use the opportunity to inform Exco that your government has actually
taken a position on the Atala Oil Field and that it should remain a property of
the Bayelsa State government.
“I
call on all who are concerned on the Atala Oil Field, namely DPR, the Petroleum
Ministry, NNPC and indeed our own son, the Minister of State for Petroleum
Resources, to do all within their powers to ensure that the Atala Oil Field is
returned to Bayelsa,” Diri said.
Meanwhile a Public
Affairs Analyst in the state, Mr David West advised the state government to
approach the regulators and address the issues that led to the revocation of
the license.
He noted that the
state failed to utilise the potentials of the marginal fields by developing the
oil fields to produce crude oil that could be refined locally to meet domestic
energy needs.
“The marginal fields
was a rare opportunity wasted by the past administration that kept the license
dormant, there are terms and the state carried onas if the licence does not
expire,” West said.
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