The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the chief regulator of the nation’s oil and gas upstream sector, has opened 50 oil and gas blocks across five sedimentary basins for bidding in the 2025 licensing round.
The commission warned that only technically competent and financially strong firms would be allowed to scale through the newly designed, merit-based process.
The Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, announced the framework during a pre-bid webinar, stating the round is a strategic intervention to grow reserves and improve production. “This upstream sector is serious business. It is for long-term investment, and it is an open invitation to partnership, transparency, and shared responsibility,” Eyesan said.
Okay News reports that the commission, with the approval of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has revised the commercial terms to lower financial entry barriers. Signature bonuses have been set within a range of $3 million to $7 million, shifting emphasis away from aggressive cash bids and toward technical capability, credible work programmes, and speed to production.
A Merit-Based And Transparent Process
The NUPRC boss emphasized a strictly merit-based approach, placing technical competence and financial capacity at the centre of selection. “Only candidates with strong technical and financial credentials, professionalism, and credible plans will move forward,” Eyesan stated. She outlined a five-stage process comprising registration, data acquisition, technical bid submission, evaluation, and a commercial bid conference.
The entire exercise will comply with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, with digital tools deployed to ensure transparency and public accountability. Eyesan reaffirmed that the process would remain open to scrutiny by agencies like the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
Access To Frontier And Mature Basins
The 50 blocks on offer are spread across five of Nigeria’s seven sedimentary basins, giving investors access to both frontier terrains and the mature Niger Delta Basin. In a technical presentation, Director Amber Ndoma-Egba named the included basins as the Chad Basin, Benue Trough, Anambra Basin, Bida Basin, and the Niger Delta Basin.
Technical evaluation will focus on subsurface understanding, exploration work programmes, development concepts, sustainability, and host community plans. Ndoma-Egba confirmed that bidders must outline exploration plans within three years for onshore assets and five years for deepwater and frontier blocks. Final winners will emerge based on a weighted combination of technical and commercial scores.
The licensing round is positioned as a clear signal that Nigeria’s upstream sector has been re-engineered to attract serious, long-term investment in a competitive global market for capital. The NUPRC aims to secure approximately $10 billion in new investments through this process.
, the chief regulator of the nation's oil and gas upstream sector, has opened 50 oil and gas blocks across five sedimentary basins for bidding in the 2025 licensing round.){kind=link}