Nigeria to cancel non-operational oil field licenses ahead of bidding round

(Bloomberg) – Nigeria’s government plans to cancel most of the permits granted to marginal-oil-field operators in 2021 that remain non-operational, Minister of State for Petroleum Heineken Lokpobiri said.

Only three of about 100 licenses granted in that year are operational, Lokpobiri said at the Nigerian Economic Summit in the capital, Abuja. The government will revoke the permits once the three-year deadline for them to become operational expires, he said.

The government plans to hold another oil-bidding round soon, the minister said.

Nigeria expects jump in foreign investment in mining. Nigeria’s government said it sees a jump in foreign direct investment in the mining industry as President Bola Tinubu’s government revamps the regulatory framework.

The West African nation plans to tighten rules to reduce the export of raw minerals and encourage the shipment of processed products, a move aimed at creating jobs and boosting the value of its exports, according to Dele Alake, the minister for solid minerals.

The ministry has received “tremendous interest from foreign direct investors,” Finance Minister Wale Edun said at the summit. “We expect some of that to come to fruition.”