FG reopens 13 oil blocks for licensing

The Federal Government has announced that 13 of the 50 oil and gas blocks offered during the 2025 Licensing Round will be returned to the licensing pool after failing to attract investor bids.

The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, made the disclosure on Tuesday during the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference in Abuja.

According to Eyesan, although 50 oil and gas blocks were initially offered, only 37 attracted interest from prospective investors, leaving 13 without any bids.

“At the end of the exercise, we had 50 blocks on offer, but we only had representation for 37 of those 50 blocks.

“Thirteen of those blocks will be returning back to the basket,” she said.

She also disclosed that 143 companies submitted about 200 bids for the available assets.

“We have a total of 143 companies showing interest for 200 bids. That, for us, was remarkable, and I must say thank you,” Eyesan said.

According to her, almost 300 companies initially expressed interest in the licensing round, reflecting renewed investor confidence in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector.

“When we started the journey, we got interest from almost 300 companies. I repeat, almost 300 companies. That, in my view, was an indication that the tide has turned for Nigeria,” she said.

She explained that the number of interested companies was reduced to 196 after the prequalification stage before advancing to the technical and commercial evaluation stages.

“From the almost 300 interests that we got, we moved to the pre-qualification stage, and that number was pruned down to 196,” she added.

According to Eyesan, 143 companies eventually participated in the commercial bid process, submitting about 200 bids.

The 2025 Licensing Round was announced on November 11, 2025, in line with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, with 50 oil and gas blocks offered across seven sedimentary basins.

The assets comprise 16 Niger Delta onshore blocks, 18 shallow water blocks, one deep offshore block, three blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin and four in the Benue Trough.

The bid portal opened on December 1, 2025, while a pre-bid conference was held on January 14, 2026, in Lagos to guide prospective investors on the bidding requirements.

Registration and prequalification submissions closed on February 27, 2026, with the prequalification process completed on March 16.

Winning bids are being determined through a weighted evaluation of signature bonus commitments, proposed work programmes and performance security, combining technical and commercial scores rather than financial offers alone.

The framework is designed to ensure that petroleum assets are awarded to investors with the financial strength, technical expertise and operational capacity required to accelerate exploration and production in Nigeria’s upstream sector.