Oil-rich Nigeria received 350 bids from interested companies for 75 oil blocks put on offer this year, overshooting government estimate of 200 bids, the country's Department of Petroleum Resources told reporters Tuesday.

"There is an intense and strong competition from qualified bidders in the 2005 licensing round," Tony Chukwueke, the agency's director, said in Abuja, Nigeria's capital.

Companies with "strong and high signature bonus" would have an edge over others in the award, Chukwueke stressed.

He said that the agency was doing well by ensuring open and transparent award of the blocks slated for early August.

Meanwhile, 14 of the 75 blocks on offer have been reserved for companies willing to engage in downstream activities like refineries in Nigeria, he said.

The 2005 licensing round opened in March with road shows in Nigeria's oil city Port Harcourt, London, Houston and Singapore, designed to woo investors.

Source: Xinhua