Bayelsa Govt laments revocation of Atala Marginal fields, seeks revalidation

The Bayelsa government on Wednesday said it remained interested in reinstatement of the Atala Marginal oil fields licence revoked by the Department of Petroleum Resources on April 6, 2020.

 

 

Bayelsa Oil Company had reapplied for the licence during the last bidding by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) but the bid turned out unsuccessful.

 

 

It will be recalled that the 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 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..

 

 

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.

 

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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 It was a surprise and rude shock to us that the licence was revoked.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.