NUPRC gives 2025 licensing round winners 90-day deadline to meet obligations or lose assets

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has given winners of the 2025 Licensing Round a 90-day deadline to fulfil all post-award obligations or forfeit their allocated oil and gas assets, warning that defaulting bidders will automatically lose their entitlement to the acreage.

The warning came on Tuesday at the close of the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference in Abuja, where the Commission said the awarded blocks have the potential to add about 500 million barrels to Nigeria’s oil reserves and boost crude oil and condensate production by at least 300,000 barrels per day within the next three years, supporting the country’s target of producing three million barrels per day by 2030.

Speaking at the conference, themed “Expanding Opportunities: Right Play, Right Place, Right Time,” the Commission Chief Executive, Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said successful bidders must provide the required guarantees, pay the signature bonus and first-year rent, and execute all contractual documents within 90 days of receiving their offer letters.

“A winning bidder that fails to fulfil the prescribed conditions within 90 days of receiving its offer letter will lose its entitlement to the asset,” Eyesan said, adding that the Commission would invite reserve bidders, in order of ranking, to take over any forfeited acreage.

She said the deadline underscores the Commission’s determination to eliminate speculation in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum industry.

“The Government is not seeking speculative holders of acreage; it is seeking partners with the capacity, discipline and commitment to deliver measurable production and economic value,” she said.

Eyesan disclosed that the licensing round, launched eight months ago on the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, attracted about 300 companies competing for 50 oil and gas assets. Following the prequalification process, 196 applicants advanced to the bidding stage, while 143 companies eventually submitted 200 technical and commercial bids covering 37 assets.

She explained that winners emerged through a weighted evaluation process that combined technical competence with commercial criteria, including the signature bonus, work programme commitments and work programme performance security, rather than on the basis of the highest financial offer alone.

According to her, the assets on offer could increase Nigeria’s proven reserves, which currently stand at 37.01 billion barrels of crude oil and condensate and 215.19 trillion cubic feet of gas. Once developed, the fields are expected to contribute at least 300,000 barrels per day to national production within three years.

She said the additional production would boost government revenue, improve foreign exchange earnings, create jobs, deepen local content, expand opportunities for indigenous service companies, encourage technology transfer and accelerate economic growth.

Eyesan also noted that the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) monitored the bid evaluation and opening process to enhance transparency and public confidence. She stressed that the announcement of successful bidders does not amount to the award of Petroleum Prospecting Licences (PPLs), as all post-award conditions must first be met.

She further disclosed that President Tinubu has approved another licensing round for 2026, assuring investors who were unsuccessful in the current exercise that fresh opportunities would soon become available.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, commended the Commission for conducting a transparent and competitive exercise.

The ministers urged unsuccessful bidders to remain optimistic, saying Nigeria’s vast hydrocarbon resources, ongoing reforms and favourable investment climate continue to position the country as one of the most attractive destinations for upstream oil and gas investment in Africa.