215 OIL BLOCS AWAIT ALLOCATION - DPR

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said that the country currently had 215 oil acreages awaiting allocation to oil companies.

Mr. Osten Olorunshola, the DPR Director, said this when the House of Representatives Committee on Upstream visited the department in Lagos as part of its oversight functions. The director also said that 173 blocs had been allocated to various oil companies.

Olorunshola said that most of the oil blocs that had so far been allocated were in the Niger-Delta region.  On the Petroleum Industry Bill, he said that its passage would save the oil and gas sector from danger and create an enabling environment for investment.

Mr Muraina Ajibola, the House Committee Chairman, said that his team's visit to the department was in line with the Standing Orders of the House.

Ajibola said that the DPR had done well in terms of revenue generation, keeping the nation's oil production capacity aglow and steadily maintaining its budget. He said that the committee would do its best to strengthen the DPR through appropriate legislation.