The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the amendment of the bid round calendar for 2022/23.

The Commission Chief Executive (CCE), NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, in a statement on Saturday, said the approval is to accommodate the concerns expressed by both local and international investors over the closeness of the schedule to the terminal date of the present administration in the country.

Komolafe added that the move is geared towards boosting confidence in the transparency and continuity of the 2022/2023 Deep Offshore Oil Block Mini-bid Round process,

“Following the approval by President Buhari in his capacity as the Petroleum Resources Minister, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has revised the Deep Offshore Oil block Bid Round Schedule by extending the deadline for the submission of Technical/Commercial bids to May 19, 2023, as well as the timeline for concluding activities of contract negotiations and signing between July 3 and 28, 2023,” the statement read.

According to Komolafe, the 2022/23 Deep Offshore Oil block Mini-bid Round is progressing in line with the bid round schedule which has been published as part of the Bid Round Guidelines.

“The outstanding activities for the conclusion of the exercise include the Technical/Commercial Bid Submission and the Ministerial Consent/Contract Negotiation and Signing,” he added.

“The Technical/Commercial bid submission involves Data access, purchase, evaluation, bid preparation and submission; Bid evaluation and publication of results was well as Commercial bid conference and announcement of winners.”

The CCE reiterated that the commission is fully committed to conducting the bid round in a manner that guarantees the achievement of the objectives of the exercise, pointing out that participation is both robust and beneficial to key stakeholders.