OML 46: Bayelsans emotionally attached to Atala fields - Gov Diri

Port Harcourt -- Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, says the state remains interested in the reinstatement and revalidation of the Atala marginal oil fields licence, revoked by the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR.

Recall that Oil Mining Lease, OML, 46 asset held by the Bayelsa Oil Company, on behalf the Bayelsa State government, located within onshore swamps in the state, was won in 2013 through a bidding process conducted by the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR.

DPR on April 6, 2020 announced the revocation of 11 out of the 13 marginal fields licenses it issued to indigenous oil firms to build capacity and promote Nigerians’ participation in the oil sector.

Bayelsa Oil Company had reapplied for the licence during the last bidding by the Department of Petroleum Resources but the bid turned out unsuccessful.

The DPR had on May 31, 2020 awarded 57 marginal field licences to successful operators that participated in the bidding rounds process which excluding the Bayelsa

Oil Company.

Reacting to the development, Gov Douye Diri, expressed shock over the revocation and unsuccessful bid for the marginal fields rounds concluded by the DPR in May 2021.