By Gbenga Adedayo
In the absence of any bureaucratic modifications, a total of 19 Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) and 28 Oil Prospecting Licenses (OPLs) oil blocs may change status in 2019 when the licenses will expire, a source inside the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has disclosed.
According to the source, the concessions may either be renewed or relinquished in 2019, a year that may also witness the climax of political activities towards another political dispensation among Nigerians.
Of the 19 OMLs, 17 of them belong to Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) which the Anglo-Dutch company may either renew or relinquish, depending on its interest, as the fields are onshore acreages located in the Nigeria Delta.
The OPLs are assigned for three years with an option of renewal for maximum of two years while the OMLs are granted for 10 years with another 10 years renewal option.
If the 2017 Service Requirements as released by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) subsists, then, companies applying to renew their oil license or leases may pay a statutory fee of $2 million, while conversion from OPL to OML may cost $1 million.
This may also be preceded by statutory application fees of $2,500 for marginal oil field and $5,000 for applications relating to OPL. For OML, statutory application fees of $10,000 are required.