NUPRC gives 31 oil bloc winners 60 days to pay bonuses

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has given 31 companies that won 37 oil and gas blocs in the 2025 Licensing Round about 60 days to pay their required signature bonuses or risk losing the provisional awards.

The warning comes one month after the commercial bid conference held in Abuja on July 21, 2026, where the successful bidders for the available blocs were announced.

In a notice issued on Sunday, the NUPRC said the successful companies had begun the compliance process following the issuance of provisional award letters.

The commission warned that bidders who fail to meet the payment deadline stipulated under the Petroleum Industry Act will forfeit their bid guarantees and have their provisional awards transferred to the next-ranked reserve bidders.

Under the applicable rules, successful bidders are required to pay signature bonuses ranging from $3m to $7m per bloc, in addition to first-year rents, guarantees and other post-award requirements.

With the statutory payment window set at 90 days from the issuance of the provisional awards, the NUPRC’s latest notice means the successful companies have about 60 days remaining to complete their payments.

Based on the July 21 award date, the deadline falls on October 19, 2026.

The commission said failure to meet the requirements within the prescribed period would trigger automatic forfeiture of the affected provisional award and its reassignment to the designated reserve bidder.

The 37 blocks span the Niger Delta onshore, shallow-water and deep-offshore areas, as well as frontier basins.

They include blocks in the Niger Delta, Benin Basin, Anambra Basin, Chad Basin and Benue Trough, alongside a deep-offshore block.

A total of 143 companies participated in the licensing round and submitted about 200 bids for the 37 blocs. However, 13 of the 50 blocks initially offered received no bids.

NUPRC Chief Executive Officer, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, had earlier urged the successful bidders to make the required payments promptly and proceed with the development of their awarded assets.

The regulator has also published the successful bidders and reserve bidders for each of the 37 blocs and directed stakeholders to its 2025 Licensing Round portal for further details on the awards and compliance requirements.