The Senate has launched a fierce campaign of criticism against the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) over the purported cancellation and incorrect reassignment of the Atala Marginal Oil Field (OML 46).
Halkin Exploration and Production Company Limited was purportedly given ownership of the oil field that was previously thought to belong to the Bayelsa State Government (Halkin E&P).
The Bayelsa Oil Company Limited (BOCL) and Hardy Oil Nigeria Limited petitioned the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to intervene and address the issue because they were concerned about the development and looking for redress.
The Senate Committee thereupon instructed the NUPRC management to present a signed order from President Muhammadu Buhari sanctioning the re-allocation of the oil field to Halkin E&P.
The dispute over the oil field began on April 6, 2020, when the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the then-regulatory body, revoked the operating license of BOCL on the Marginal Oil Field due to an alleged lack of assets to help the nation derive the most value possible from the field’s resources.
The original operators of the oil field, BOCL, Hardy Oil Nigeria Limited, and Century Exploration and Production Limited (CEPL), however, fought the revocation on the grounds that they had made explorations and productions and paid royalties into the Federal Government of Nigeria’s account. They also argued that at the time the field was allegedly revoked, the JV partners still had 20,700 barrels of unfinished crude on the site.