Gas was focus of 2020 marginal field bid round – DPR

It is in furtherance of Nigeria’s ambitious Decade of Gas declaration that the Department of Petroleum Resources organised the 2020 Marginal field bid rounds, says Sarki Auwalu, CEO of the DPR.

In his presentation at the Nigerian International Petroleum Summit in Abuja on June 10, Awulu said that most of the fields awarded in the bid round were offshore fields that contain more gas than oil.

The bulk of the 57 fields awarded to marginal field operators during the 2020 marginal field bid round were offshore and gas extraction seems to be the intent.

According to Auwalu, there were 29 offshore fields awarded amounting to 51 percent of the total fields awarded. Twenty fields were in swamps and only 5 fields were located on land.

“Now you see why we said the Marginal field is related to the Decade of Gas,” said Auwalu.

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However, many of these fields have stranded gas which International Oil companies have failed to develop because of the absence of a thriving local gas market.

However, for these operators, one of their challenges is how to move the gas to locations where they are needed for power industries and use for other purposes.

“The concept of a virtual pipeline is ideal for this situation,” said Abel Nsa, assistant director at DPR.

Nsa said there have been situations where there are mini LNGS. “With a mini LNG, you can do much more and that changes the dynamics.”

Indeed Nigeria is often said to be a gas province with a drop of oil, but an obsessive focus on crude oil has dent the fortunes of the gas sector.