—To grow reserve by 500m barrels
By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja
The Federal Government has said the ongoing 2025 Licensing Round is expected to deliver an additional 300,000 barrels per day of crude oil and condensate production over the next three years, as it prepares to launch another bid round in 2026 to accelerate investment in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector.
Speaking at the Commercial Bid Conference for the Nigeria 2025 Licensing Round in Abuja on Tuesday, the Commission Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Eyisan, said the new production would support the government’s target of raising national oil output to three million barrels per day by 2030.
She disclosed that the assets on offer have the potential to add about 500 million barrels to Nigeria’s crude oil and condensate reserves, currently estimated at 37.01 billion barrels, while also contributing to the country’s 215.19 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.
According to her, the licensing round attracted about 300 companies competing for 50 assets. Following prequalification, 196 firms qualified for the bidding stage, while 143 companies eventually submitted 200 technical and commercial bids covering 37 assets. She stated that 13 blocks from the 2025 bid round have been returned to the 2026 bid round.
Eyisan said the licensing exercise was conducted in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive to ensure transparency, fairness and adherence to international best practices, adding that the process remained on schedule from registration and prequalification through technical evaluation and commercial bid opening.
She explained that successful bidders would be determined based on a weighted aggregate of their technical and commercial scores, rather than the highest signature bonus alone, with emphasis placed on long-term value, work programme commitments and the capacity to deliver production.
“The assets available in this licensing round have the potential to add about 500 million barrels to Nigeria’s reserves. Over the next three years, once successfully developed, these assets are expected to contribute a minimum of 300,000 barrels per day of crude oil and condensate production,” she said.
She stressed that the government was seeking investors capable of developing the assets, warning that acreage would not be allowed to remain idle.
“Our message is clear: drill or drop. Work programmes must be implemented, financial commitments honoured and agreed milestones achieved,” she said.
The NUPRC boss also announced that President Tinubu had approved another licensing round in 2026, reaffirming the commission’s commitment to conducting predictable and periodic bid rounds to sustain exploration, replenish reserves and provide investors with a steady pipeline of opportunities.
She noted that winning bidders would have 90 days to meet all post-award conditions, including payment of signature bonuses, first-year rents and submission of the required guarantees, failing which they would forfeit the licences to reserve bidders.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the licensing round would strengthen Nigeria’s Decade of Gas initiative by attracting upstream investments needed to expand domestic gas supply, support industrialisation and improve energy access.
Ekpo said reforms introduced under the Petroleum Industry Act had significantly improved investor confidence by promoting regulatory certainty, transparency and ease of doing business.
He urged investors to take advantage of Nigeria’s abundant hydrocarbon resources, describing the country as one of the world’s most attractive investment destinations.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, said Nigeria had become increasingly attractive to investors because of its strategic location and ongoing reforms in the oil sector.
He said the Petroleum Industry Act had eliminated discretionary allocation of oil blocks, ensuring that licences would only be awarded through a transparent and competitive process.
Lokpobiri cautioned successful bidders against treating petroleum licences as status symbols, insisting that only investors with the technical and financial capacity to develop the assets should hold them.
“These licenses shouldn’t be trophies. Let the best win,” he said.
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