According to the Nigerian Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) Head of Public Affairs, Paul Osu, the award ceremony for the winning bidders in the 2020 marginal field bid round will be conducted on Monday, May 31, 2021.

Companies that have fully met all of the requirements outlined in the marginal field bid round parameters, including complete payment of signature bonuses within the allotted time range, are considered successful investors.

According to the statement, “The Department of Petroleum Resources will continue to provide transparent regulatory oversight for the oil and gas industry to enable business and create opportunities for investors.”

Auwalu Sarki, the Director of the DPR, had stated that the payment of signature incentives alone will produce $500 million for the government. He stated that the Department had reduced the number of bidders to 161 and that this is the first time Nigeria has let firms pay for oilfield acquisition fees in naira.

Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, recently stated that the Department of Petroleum Resources remitted a significant sum to the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in April. He claimed that the royalties collected by the Department on behalf of the government helped to fill the void left by the national oil company.

He said: “I can’t say what the figure is, but the DPR has always contributed to the federation revenue, because they collect royalties, so they’ll continue to contribute. But as to filling the gap, it’ll not always be there, because NNPC has not said after not being able to contribute in May, it’ll stop entirely. NNPC has not announced it again. So, we cannot say for how long DPR is going to keep paying.”