NEWS
Oil block Licencing: NUPRC Extends Deadline for pre-qualification Documents Submission
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has announced the extension of the deadline for the registration and submission of pre-qualification documents for the 2024 oil block licensing round.
Mr Gbenga Komolafe, Commission Chief Executive (CCE), NUPRC, announced the extension in a statement issued on Wednesday.
Komolafe said the registration and submission of pre-qualification documents which was initially scheduled to close on June 25, 2024 had been extended by 10 days, and would now close on July 5, 2024.
According to him, the data access, data purchase, evaluation, bid preparation and submission initially scheduled to open on July 4 and close on Nov.
29, will now start on July 8 and close on Nov. 29, 2024 as previously scheduled.He said all other dates in the published 2024 Licencing Round Schedule remained the same unless otherwise communicated.
“In pursuit of the Commission’s commitment to derive value from the country’s abundant oil and gas reserves and increase production, the Commission has been working assiduously with multi-client companies to undertake more exploratory activities.
“This is to acquire more data to foster and encourage further investment in the Nigerian upstream sector,” he said.
Komolafe said that as a result of additional data acquired in respect of deep offshore blocks, the Commission had added 17 deep offshore blocks to the 2024 Licensing Round.
He said that further details on the blocks could be found on the bid portal.
“In accordance with the published guidelines, we had earlier indicated that some of the assets on offer should be applied for as clusters, namely: PPL 300-CS & PPL 301-CS, PPL 2000 and PPL 2001.
“Bidders are hereby advised to bid for those blocks as clusters or as single units; it is optional,” the statement quoted Komolafe as saying.
Recall that some deep offshore blocks and other blocks which cut across onshore, were put on offer for the 2022/2023 Mini Bid Round.
Continental shelf and deep offshore terrains were also put on offer for the Nigeria 2024 Licencing Round.
In order to vacate entry barriers, the Commission had sought and obtained the approval of President Bola Tinubu, in line with his determination to create enabling and attractive investment regimes in the upstream oil and gas sector.
Tinubu who is also the Petroleum Minister had approved attractive fiscal regimes and also minimised entry fees for both licencing rounds by putting a cap on the signature bonus payable for award of the acreages.
“Consequently, it is necessary to ensure that the same bid criteria (in addition to the uniform signature bonus criteria) are applicable for both licencing rounds, to promote transparency and provide a level playing ground for all bidders.
”Since the criteria for the award of the oil blocks are now much more attractive than they initially were during the 2022/2023 Mini Bid Round, it is in the interest of equity and fair play to give all investors the same opportunity to bid for the assets.
”All blocks in the 2022/2023 and 2024 Licencing Rounds are available to all interested investors on br.nuprc.gov.ng and br2024.nuprc.gov.ng respectively.
“And the 2022/2023 Mini Bid Round registration phase is reopened to new applicants.
“The public is therefore invited to take advantage of this development and attractive entry terms and conditions and participate in the exercise,” the statement also quoted Komolafe as saying. (NAN)
The Police Command in Anambra says gunmen have burnt its station in Umunze, Orumba South Local Government Area, killing two officers.SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, announced this in a statement issued in Awka on Monday.He said that the gunmen attacked the police facility with improvised explosives, shooting sporadically, which caused a fire to burn part of the station.
He said further that during the attack, two police operatives on duty were killed when they attempted to resist the gunmen. Ikenga stated that the bodies of the deceased policemen had been recovered and taken to the morgue.He also noted that joint security forces, including the police, army and navy, among others, had recovered five unexploded improvised explosives.Ikenga noted that the Commissioner of Police in Anambra, CP Nnaghe Itam, had visited the scene for assessment.He said that Itam called on anyone with information that could assist in the investigation to come forward, assuring then that such information would be treated confidential.(NAN)
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) has reiterated the Federal Government’s determination to maintain and operate a secure and efficient personnel and payroll system.In a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr Bawa Mokwa on Monday, the OAGF maintained that the Integrated Personal and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) database has not been compromised, assuring that employees personal data on the IPPIS database is safe and secured.
The OAGF, which manages the IPPIS and other financial management initiatives of the Federal Government, said it is already implementing its ICT Security Policy that aims to ensure that its digital assets are secured in line with global best practices. The Office explained that no data is saved on its website, adding that the IPPIS uses the website to only share information and not for any transaction. “The IPPIS is not using the OAGF website for any transaction. The website is actually the medium to share information. Neither payroll nor payment is made through the website, therefore, no data is contained in the website”, it said. The OAGF stated that the IPPIS validation portal that was recently developed for updates of employees information was deployed for a period and after the exercise was over, the data were pulled out and the site shut down permanently.According to the statement, “the IPPIS Validation Portal was deployed on a secure platform. A secured database and application were purchased from the popular HELIX-FONS.”The Office acknowledged that the IPPIS is of utmost importance to Nigerian workers, thus it became imperative to assuage the fears of any loss or breach of employees personal data in the IPPIS database. The OAGF noted that the IPPIS has put in place necessary mechanism to resolve any problem that may arise in its operations and advised workers that observe anomalies in their salaries to follow the official procedures inorder to get such issues resolved.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Nigeria’s headline inflation dropped to 32.15 percent in August, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report
The report released on Monday said the inflation eased the second time in 2024 after a 19 month increase that peaked at 34.19 percent in June.
“Looking at the movement, the August 2024 headline inflation
rate showed a decrease of 1.
It however, said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.35 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (25.80%).
“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in August 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.
e, August 2023).Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.22%, which was 0.06% lower than the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.28%).
” This means that in August 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is lower than the rate of increase in the
average price level in July 2024.”
The report added that food inflation rate in August 2024 was 37.52 percent on a year-on-year basis, which was 8.18% points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (29.34%).
It said the rise in food inflation
on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of; “Bread, Maize Grains, Guinea Corn, etc (Bread and Cereals Class), Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, etc (Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers Class), Palm Oil, Vegetable, etc (Oil & Fats Class) and
Ovaltine, Milo, Lipton, etc (Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Class).”
But on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.37 percent, a 0.10% decrease compared to the rate recorded in July 2024 (2.47 percent).
“The fall can be attributed to the decline in the rate of increase in the average prices of Tobacco, Tea, Coco, Coffee, Groundnut Oil, Milk, Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, Palm Oil, Vegetable etc.”
It added that the average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending August 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 36.99 percent, which was 11.98 percent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2023 (25.01 percent).
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