OML 46: Senate orders NUPRC to reallocate oil field to Bayelsa

The senate has faulted the revocation of the Atala marginal oil field (OML 46) which was formerly managed by the trio of Bayelsa Oil Company Limited (BOCL), Hardy Oil Nigeria Limited and Century Exploration and Production Limited (CEPL) by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). 

But the operating licence was revoked in 2020 by the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and re-awarded to another oil firm, Halkin Exploration and Production Company Limited (Halkin E&P). 

The previous managers, however, kicked against the revocation, claiming that as original operators of the oil field exploration and production had been made and royalties paid to the federal government. 

The senate, after adopting the recommendations of its committee on ethics and privileges that investigated a petition by Sir Daniel Chukwudozie on behalf of others, ordered the re-allocation of the oil field to the previous operators as earlier directed by the presidency. 

• Troops kill 10 bandits in Kaduna
• Oil spill: Shell to pay N/Delta farmers €15m

The senate said, “This recommendation is in line with the presidential directive which was applied in returning the nine marginal fields to their original owners/operators.”