The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), has opened bids for 50 new oil blocks, in the 2025 Licensing round, expected to last for six months.
Commission Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, who announced this while briefing some select journalists on Monday, said the bidding would add 2 billion barrels of oil output over the next decade.
TheFact Daily reports that the commencement of the 2025 oil bid round follows the successful and transparent conduct of the previous ones.
Speaking, the NUPRC Boss said the 50 oil blocks which comprise 15 onshore assets, 19 shallow water, 15 frontier and one deep water asset, are expected to attract about $10 billion investments.
“Consolidating on the achievements of the 2024 licensing round, the commission is proud to formally announce the commencement of the Nigeria 2025 licensing round and the launch of the licensing round online portal.
“Following the gracious approval of President Bola Tinubu, the NUPRC has listed 50 oil and gas blocks across offshore swamp and shallow waters and, of course, offshore terrains spanning diverse terrains.
“The licensing round is expected to attract about $10 billion in investment and add up to 2 billion barrels of oil output over the next 10 years, with an estimated 400,000 barrels per day of production volumes when the blocks are fully operational,” he said.
Engr. Komolafe disclosed that the overall objectives of the 2025 licensing round were to grow oil and gas reserves through aggressive exploration and development efforts.
“This will help to increase Nigeria’s production capacity and government revenue, create thousands of direct and indirect jobs, from technical oilfield roles to supporting services, logistics supply chain, infrastructure, local content and local content, especially in regions where blocks are located,” he added.
Speaking further on the exercise, Engr. Komolafe said the NUPRC, as a business enabler and in line with President Tinubu’s approval, has also reduced the applicable signature bonuses in order to attract investments.
“What we are saying here is that the entry barrier has been significantly lowered. To make this exercise competitive with the best jurisdictions,” he added.
He said to ensure that the bidding process is credible and seamless, the commission rolled out guidelines which are now available on its website.
“It has adopted a two-stage bidding process for the award of the blocks, comprising a qualification stage and a bid stage. The qualification stage involves the submission and evaluation of applications by interested parties or consultees in accordance with the regulations and guidelines.
“Applicants shall provide all information required for this stage. Only applicants who are just qualified and subsequently shortlisted by the commission shall proceed to the bid stage and will be required to execute a confidentiality agreement prior to participation,” he stated.
At the bid stage, Mr Komolafe said shortlisted applicants or bidders shall submit their technical and commercial bids in accordance with the bid regulation, the guidelines and any other bidding documents issued by the commission.
“Given our commitment to transparency and alignment with best practices, the bid process will be automated and digital. Bidders will emerge at the end of the commercial bid process.
“The Nigeria 2025 licensing round is a major window for investments in Nigeria as it offers easier participation, transparency and comprehensive subsurface data. It further reflects President Bola Tinubu’s charge to the commission that Nigeria must not only be open for business, but Nigeria must be irresistible for investment,” he said.
