Lagos — The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) says the country currently has 215 pending oil acreages to be allocated to oil companies in Nigeria. But the agency did not disclose when the blocs will be allocated.

Director of the agency Osten Olorunshola told the House of Representatives Committee on Upstream in Lagos yesterday that 173 blocs had already been allocated to various oil companies in the country.

According to him, most of the oil blocs that have been allocated so far are within the Niger Delta area and that plans are afoot to get oil in commercial quantities in Sokoto basin.

The director also spoke on the investment profile in the nation's oil and gas, saying only one investment decision was signed in the sector.

He warned that the development might jeopardize the country's target of 40 billion barrels, saying however that creating enabling environments for investment through the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill will save the oil and gas sector from danger.

Speaking, Chairman of the House of Representative Committee on Upstream Muraina Ajibola said his team was on an oversight visit to the agency in line with Order A Rule 187 of the Standing Orders of House of Representatives.