Nigeria: Chevron contributes 12 Fields To Marginal Field Auction

Close to 11 years after the first marginal field awards were granted, Nigeria has launched a second process, with 31 fields in the basket.

15 of the fields planned for auction to Nigerian independents are in shallow water (continental shelf), while the remaining 16 are located onshore, all in the Niger Delta basin, according to Diezani Alison-Madueke, the country’s minister of petroleum resources.

The Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, will, within the next two weeks, undertake a road show to different parts of the country to enlighten stakeholders about the exercise, the minister said. The process is expected to end around mid 2014.

Chevron submitted 12 fields to the DPR for the purpose, including Olure, Bime, Omofejo in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 49. It also has Shango, Meta, Azama, Ruta and Oloye in shallow water OML 95, as well as Obira and Kudo, also in shallow water OML 89. At the time of the submission, it was not clear if all these fields were in the 31-field basket. 

For the first time, fields operated by Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and ExxonMobil are going to be in a marginal field auction.  NAOC submitted two fields, including the gas field Ajaketon, located in OML 63 and the Odimodi oil field, located in OML 62.