Nigeria has taken a decisive step toward reshaping its upstream oil and gas map, with 31 companies emerging as winners of 37 oil and gas blocks at the conclusion of the 2025 licensing round, held at the Transcorp Event Centre in Abuja.
The Commercial Bid Conference, organised by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), capped an eight-month process that regulators say has drawn fresh investor confidence into Nigeria’s oil sector, including, for the first time, into the nation’s long-overlooked frontier basins.
The round began with a broad appeal: 50 blocks spanning seven terrains, from the mature Niger Delta to the largely unexplored Chad Basin and Benue Trough. Around 300 companies initially expressed interest. After a prequalification screening, 196 were cleared to bid, and by the submission deadline, 143 companies had filed 200 technical and commercial bids covering 37 of the 50 available blocks. The remaining 13 blocks attracted no bids at all.
Of the blocks that did draw interest, the Niger Delta Shallow Water terrain proved the most contested with 18 blocks awarded, followed by Niger Delta Onshore with 16. But it was the frontier basins – the Benin Basin, Anambra Basin, Chad Basin, and Benue Trough, together accounting for 15 blocks, that the regulator highlighted as the round’s most significant development. NUPRC described the level of investor interest in these unexplored regions as unprecedented in the nation’s energy history.
Among the companies awarded blocks were SSonic Petroleum Limited (PPL 2A29), CFP Pipeline and Flowlines (2A30), Dutchford E&P Limited (2A32), Attabanson Global Company Limited (2A33 and PPL 901), Rosem Energy Limited (2A38), Pivot-GIS Limited (2A39), Network E&P (2A40), Asharami (2A41), LexOil (2A42), BVOF (2A43), Gupsco Energy Limited (2A44 and 2A51), Saratoga (2A45), Volante (2A46), Concept-Reel Petroleum Services Limited (2A47 and 2A55), Clinton Oil Field (2A48 and 2A62) and Nuway Oaklane Limited (2A49).
Others are Ramec (2A50), Italia (2A53), Blueridge E&P (2A54), Up Energies Limited (2A56), AYM Shafa (2A57), Blackrock Holdings Limited (2A58), Funtay Integrated Business Limited (2A59), Riparian Development and Production Limited (2A60), Nikstallis (2A61 and PPL 900), Stardeep Petroleum (PPL 2010), Dakoda & U Limited (PPL308 and PPL 800), Southborne Oil and Gas Limited (PPL 902), Lanaka Petroleum (PPL 903) Highban Resources Limited (PPL 700), Eyre Energy Limited (PPL 801).
But emerging as a winner is only the first step. NUPRC Commission Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, made it clear that final awards hinge on winners promptly paying their signature bonuses and meeting the Commission’s “drill or drop” requirement, a policy designed to prevent companies from sitting on undeveloped acreage.
Under the rules, winning bidders have 90 days from receiving their offer letters to satisfy post-bid conditions, including guarantees, signature bonus, and first-year rent payments, and execution of contractual documents. Companies that miss that window forfeit their entitlement, and the Commission can then turn to reserve bidders in order of ranking.
WHAT NUPRC IS SAYING
In her opening remarks at the conference, Eyesan said the round was a fulfilment of a mandate handed down eight months earlier by President Bola Tinubu: to open new investment opportunities and align Nigeria more closely with international best practice, with an emphasis on transparent and fair process.
She noted that the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) observed the bid evaluation and opening procedures, and that the Commission had published detailed guidelines, run a bidders’ portal, hosted webinars, and fielded questions throughout the process to reinforce credibility.
Winning bids were scored on a weighted combination of technical merit, including a bidder’s experience, operational capacity, and the credibility of its proposed work program, and commercial terms, namely the signature bonus offered, work program commitment, and performance security.
Eyesan emphasised that the top score, not simply the highest cask offer, determined each block’s winner.
THE NUMBERS BEHIND THE AMBITION
The stakes, according to the NUPRC, are substantial. The awarded blocks carry the potential to add roughly 500 million barrels to Nigeria’s reserves, which currently stand at 37.01 billion barrels of crude and condensate and 215.19 trillion cubic feet of gas.
Over the next three years, the Commission projects the new assets could add a minimum of 300,000 barrels per day of production, the contribution the regulator sees as central to the nation’s target of reaching 3 million barrels per day 2030.
Eyesan said the government intends to support development of both small and large fields alike, in hopes of drawing a broader mix of participants and encouraging collaboration across the industry, while prioritising what she called “efficient barrels,” production that generates values for all stakeholders, not just volume.
Eyesan was blunt that Tuesday’s announcement does not mark the end of the road, either for the winners or the Commission’s broader strategy.
She confirmed that President Tinubu has already given the go-ahead for a 2026 bid round, promising a fresh slate of blocks on offer.
For now, the burden shifts to the 31 winning companies to convert paper awards into activity: seismic surveys, drilling campaigns, and ultimately, barrels reaching the market.
As Eyesan put it, the true test of the round’s success won’t be the list of winners announced at the conference, but how quickly that list translates into production.
