Race for 50 oil, gas blocks enters final stage as 143 firms battle for licences

By Adewale Sanyaolu

The race to secure oil exploration rights for 50 oil and gas blocks across Nigeria has entered its decisive phase.

Already, 143 prequalified  companies have been invited to compete at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) Commercial Bid Conference scheduled for tomorrow at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
The conference marks the climax of Nigeria’s 2025 Licensing Round, one of the country’s biggest acreage offerings in recent years, with successful bidders expected to emerge based on a competitive commercial evaluation process.
Only companies that successfully scaled the commission’s rigorous prequalification exercise have been invited to participate in the event.
The NUPRC is offering 50 oil and gas blocks spread across some of Nigeria’s most prospective hydrocarbon basins, including 16 Niger Delta onshore blocks, 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin and four in the Benue Trough.
The commercial bid conference represents the final competitive stage of the licensing exercise, where bidders will be assessed using key commercial parameters, including signature bonus commitments, proposed work programmes and performance security commitments.
These factors will be combined into a weighted technical and commercial score to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round, conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, was officially launched on November 11, 2025, with the bid process subsequently advertised to local and international investors.
The commission opened its bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable company registration, while a pre-bid conference was held on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos, to familiarise prospective investors with the bidding guidelines and regulatory requirements.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, with the evaluation process completed on March 16.
The licensing exercise attracted strong investor interest, with 286 companies submitting applications for prequalification. Following the evaluation, 196 companies met the requirements to advance to the technical and commercial bidding stage.
From the prequalified firms, 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the 50 available oil and gas blocks, setting the stage for keen competition at the commercial bid conference.
The outcome of the commercial bid conference is expected to pave the way for the award of new exploration licences, with successful operators expected to commit fresh investments towards unlocking Nigeria’s untapped oil and gas resources across multiple frontier and mature basins.