At least 19 oil licences in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector are due to expire this year, according to the Nigerian Upstream Concession Situation Report released in August 2026 by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
The report, which tracks concessions across the upstream oil and gas industry, shows that the affected licences comprise 12 Petroleum Prospecting Licences and seven Oil Prospecting Licences with stated tenure dates falling within 2026. It also shows that three other licences had expiry dates in 2025, while several more are scheduled to lapse in 2027.
Among the PPLs set to expire this year are PPL 220, held by Navante Exploration and Production Limited, due October 16; PPL 232, held by Kizi Oil and Gas Services Limited, due November 16; and PPL 235, held by Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Limited, due November 1. The report also lists PPL 223, due November 30; another PPL in the same group due December 28; PPL 251, due November 16; and PPL 266, held by AOS Orchard Petroleum Development Limited, due November 21.
Three other PPLs — PPL 277, PPL 275 and PPL 254 — were listed with February 14 expiry dates, meaning their stated tenures had already elapsed by the time the report was released. The report, however, does not indicate that any of the three had been revoked or cancelled.
On the OPL side, the report lists OPL 228, held by Sahara Upstream Production Nigeria Limited, due July 9; OPL 289, operated by Cleanwaters Consortium, due September 9; OPL 809 and OPL 810, both due June 14; OPL 276, due August 14; and OPL 2010, due December 23. OPL 215, held by Noreast Petroleum Nigeria Limited, is listed with a May 3 expiry date.
The affected concessions span onshore and offshore acreage. PPL 220 covers 44.816 square kilometres onshore in the Niger Delta and is tied to the Abigborodo field, derived from OML 49. PPL 232 covers 32.366sq km on the continental shelf and is linked to the Amaniba field, derived from OML 67, while PPL 235 covers 28.121sq km on the continental shelf and is tied to the Udara field, derived from OML 70.
The report also lists a separate Petroleum Exploration Licence, PEL 1, held by TGS-Petrodata Offshore Services Limited, covering 56,500sq km of 3D seismic and GravMag data in the deep offshore Niger Delta, with an expiry date of April 20. Petroleum Mining Leases were not counted among the affected licences, as they typically run for much longer tenures; PML 1, for instance, runs to March 2043, and PML 79 to March 2046.
The expiry list comes as NUPRC pushes fresh acreage into the market. In July 2026, the commission issued 19 new Petroleum Prospecting Licences to 12 successful awardees under the 2024 Licensing Round and the 2022/2023 Mini Bid Round, covering deep offshore, shallow-water and continental shelf acreage. Most of the new licences, including PPL 2007, PPL 3011, PPL 2006, PPL 2003-DO, PPL 2005, PPL 3017, PPL 2002, PPL 304-DO and PPL 306-DO, were granted on July 8 with expiry dates of July 7, 2031. Others include PPL 2008, held by Tulcan Energy E&P Company Limited, and PPL 2009, held by Broron Energy Limited.
The report does not state that all 19 licences with 2026 expiry dates will necessarily change hands. Some entries are marked for possible optional tenure extension or conversion, while others are marked as having conversion in progress. PPL 219, held by Nuway Oaklane Limited; PPL 236, held by Emadeb Energy Services Limited; PPL 243, held by Waltersmith Petroman Limited; and PPL 258, held by Halkin Exploration and Production Limited, fall into the latter category. In the OPL section, OPL 228, OPL 809 and OPL 810 carry an asterisk indicating they are being processed for possible optional tenure extension or conversion.
NUPRC did not respond to enquiries seeking clarification on the affected licences as of the time of filing, having promised a response that had yet to come through by Tuesday. Reacting to a similar development last year, the commission said the law allows for optional extension depending on the terrain, with the outcome dependent on a company’s performance, engagement with the commission and applicable guidelines.
An energy expert, Professor Emeritus Wumi Iledare, said licence renewal was likely only where meaningful exploration or development activities had taken place, adding that renewal would become increasingly difficult where such activities were absent. He said licences were governed by the Petroleum Industry Act, with each one carrying a predetermined expiration or relinquishment date contingent on meeting the regulator’s criteria. He noted that holders of the affected blocks ought to have engaged the commission ahead of their licences’ expiry.
The Federal Government has repeatedly said it would revoke dormant oil assets. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has said the “drill or drop” policy would be enforced, with government taking over idle oil and gas assets from operators who fail to develop them.
Speaking during the 2025 commercial bid round, the Chief Executive of NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, warned successful bidders that a licence award was not an achievement in itself but the start of a commitment to develop the asset. She said the commission would reclaim assets from operators who failed to act within three years, in line with the “drill or drop” provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, and warned that the commission would ensure awarded assets were worked or reclaimed.
Eyesan also said emerging as the highest-ranked bidder in a licensing round does not automatically guarantee the grant of a Petroleum Prospecting Licence. She said winning bidders must satisfy post-award obligations within 90 days, including providing applicable guarantees, paying signature bonuses and first-year rent, and executing relevant contractual documents, or risk having the award invalidated and the licence offered to reserve bidders in order of ranking.
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