Senate Says Revocation Of Atala Oil Field By Halkin E&P Is Void

Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, has today declared the Revocation of Atala Marginal oil field void having failed to produce any written directive from President Muhammadu Buhari on allocation of the field to Halkin E&P and also failing to appear before the committee.

Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, had come under fire in Senate over alleged revocation and wrongful re– allocation of Atala Marginal Oil field (OML 46) owned by Bayelsa State Government to Halkin Exploration and Production Company Limited (Halkin E&P) .

ALL FACTS NEWSPAPER had reported that the dispute over the oil field started on April 6, 2020 when the then regulatory agency , Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), revoked the operating licence of BOCL on the Marginal Oil Field on alleged lack of assets to turn around for the Nation in deriving maximum value from available resources therein.

But the trio of BOCL, Hardy Oil Nigeria Limited and Century Exploration and Production Limited (CEPL), kicked against the revocation on the grounds that as original operators of the oil field , explorations and productions have been made and royalties paid into account of the federal government of Nigeria and that as at the time the field was purportedly revoked, the JV-partners have an outstanding 20,700 barrels of crude on the site.

Based on that, the committee requested that the CEO Halkin E&P should appear before the committee with a written directive given to the revocation. Halkin E&P absence which was not the first, informed the committee’s decision that Atala Marginal Oil Field contract be returned back to the original owner.