Nigeria advances 2025 oil licensing round as pre-qualification stage ends

By Adewale Sanyaolu and Adanna Nnamani

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) yesterday, announced that it has successfully concluded the pre‑qualification stage of the 2025 Licensing Round.

The announcement clears the first major hurdle in what is shaping up to be one of Nigeria’s most significant upstream investment drives in recent years.

According to NUPRC, the pre‑qualification notifications were sent to successful companies on March 16, 2026, and, effective March 17, NUPRC has opened data leasing for qualified bidders as they prepare technical and commercial submissions.

The 2025 Licensing Round — officially launched on December 1, 2025 after approval by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu — is offering a total of 50 oil and gas blocks spanning onshore, swamp/shallow water, frontier, and deepwater basins across Nigeria’s prolific sedimentary areas.

Under the licensing framework established by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, the bid round aims to attract substantial foreign and domestic capital, with NUPRC targeting approximately $10 billion in new upstream investment.

Industry projections suggest the development of awarded blocks could add up to 2 billion barrels of oil to national reserves and as much as 400,000 barrels per day of additional production over the next decade once fields are fully operational.

The bid process is divided into a two‑stage system — pre‑qualification followed by technical and commercial evaluation — with the entire round scheduled to run roughly six to eight months, from late November 2025 through mid‑July 2026, culminating in a commercial bid conference and eventual ministerial award of Petroleum Prospecting Licences.

To lower barriers to entry and broaden participation, NUPRC has also adjusted commercial terms including reduced signature bonuses compared with previous rounds.

Pre‑qualified bidders must now lease geological and geophysical data from designated sources and upload proof of payment as a prerequisite to bid submission — steps that signal a more transparent, automated approach intended to align Nigeria’s upstream licensing with global best practices.

The successful completion of pre‑qualification and the opening of data access now sets the stage for robust competition among capable operators — from majors to nimble independents — whose bids could unlock fresh exploration activity, strengthen Nigeria’s energy export base, and generate jobs across the value chain.