The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has charged 18 winners of the first round of the bitumen blocks bidding process to work hard to develop Nigeria’s bitumen deposits.

Alake urged the block winners to live up to expectations by complying with the terms of engagement and relevant sections of the mining act while taking cognisance of the host communities and seeking their cooperation.

The minister gave the advice during a meeting with the concessionaires in Abuja on Thursday, March 28, 2024.

He said: “With an estimated reserve of 42 billion barrels of bitumen and the second largest deposit in the world, Nigeria has no business importing bitumen. We should be a major net exporter to the rest of the world and we have no choice but to make this a reality.

“We want to know for instance as you move forward, how much of taxes you are paying, the royalties you are remitting, the local value addition that you are putting in place, the local employment generation or the multiplier effect and then the impact on your host communities.

“I will advise that you endeavour to engage your host communities and get their buy-in through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and other efforts you can make to ensure seamless operations which will culminate in maximum beneficiation for you as investors, the communities, and government.”

Minister declares value addition as standard for mining operations

Alake, while hinting at another round of bidding, urged the first-round winners to post superlative performance, which he said would serve as encouragement to prospective investors.

The minister promised the support of the Federal Government for the bitumen investors, stating that their success holds immense potential for economic growth and prosperity, heralding diversification of the economy.

In his remarks, the Director-General of the Mining Cadastral Office (MCO), Engr. Obadiah Nkom, revealed that there have been two unsuccessful attempts at concessioning Nigeria’s bitumen blocks in 2002 and 2008.

Nkom noted that following the latest successful bidding process, the MCO granted a total of 34 bitumen licenses, comprising 18 exploration licenses and 16 mining licenses.

He added that the approval was granted after Alake’s approval and a final endorsement by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Meanwhile, Alake, at the meeting, inaugurated two committees for the development of bitumen in the country.

The first is a ministerial committee chaired by Nkom and a technical committee to monitor and evaluate Bitumen activities chaired by the Director, Mines Inspectorate of the Ministry, Engr. Imam Ganiyu.

The committees’ Terms of Reference (ToR) include making recommendations that will sanitise the bitumen environment, ensure that everything pertaining to operations in the sector is above board, and advise government on how to avoid the hiccups that plagued the oil industry, amongst others.

The Star