Nigeria has concluded its 2025 Oil and Gas Licensing Round, attracting 200 bids from 143 companies for 37 of the 50 blocks offered, with 31 firms emerging as provisional winners.
The successful companies secured 37 oil and gas blocks following the commercial bid conference organised by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in Abuja, marking one of the country’s most competitive licensing rounds in recent years..
The commercial bid conference, organised by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), was held at the Transcorp Event Centre in Abuja on Tuesday.
The licensing round also marked a milestone for Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, with frontier basins attracting commercial bids for the first time. Blocks in the Benue Trough, Chad Basin, Anambra Basin and Benin Basin all received investor interest, a development the Commission described as unprecedented in the country’s energy history.
The 50 blocks offered spanned diverse terrains, including 16 onshore blocks in the Niger Delta, 18 shallow water blocks, one deep offshore block, three in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin and four in the Benue Trough. While 37 blocks attracted bids, the remaining 13 received no offers.
The successful bidders include SSonic Petroleum Limited, Asharami, Saratoga, Stardeep Petroleum, Blackrock Holdings Limited, Gupsco Energy Limited, Concept-Reel Petroleum Services Limited, Clinton Oil Field, Lanaka Petroleum, Network E&P, Dutchford E&P Limited and several others. Some companies secured multiple blocks, bringing the total number of provisional awards to 37.
According to the Commission, the successful bidders will only receive final awards after paying the prescribed signature bonuses and obtaining the approval of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021.
Speaking after the bid exercise, the Commission Chief Executive, Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, urged the successful companies to promptly pay their signature bonuses and commence development of the assets, warning that the Commission would strictly enforce the Petroleum Industry Act’s “drill or drop” provisions against operators that fail to develop their allocated blocks.
Eyesan also thanked President Bola Tinubu for supporting the Commission in delivering what she described as a seamless licensing round.
The commercial bid conference was monitored by representatives of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and other stakeholders to ensure transparency and compliance with applicable laws.
The 2025 Licensing Round forms part of the Federal Government’s strategy to attract fresh upstream investment, boost crude oil and gas production, and unlock hydrocarbon resources across both producing and frontier basins under the Petroleum Industry Act.
