The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says companies seeking to acquire oil and gas assets in the ongoing 2025 Licensing Round will be judged not only by the size of their bids but by their ability to develop the assets.
The NUPRC Executive Commissioner for Corporate Services, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, made the declaration at the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference in Abuja on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.
Eyesan said the era of awarding oil blocs solely to the highest bidders was over, with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) placing greater emphasis on technical competence, operational capacity and long-term value creation.
“It isn’t going to be just about your ability to be the highest bidder. We want to ensure that you have the right capabilities to deliver the asset, in addition to having the financial resources to deliver it,” she said.
Eyesan disclosed that bidders were assessed on technical expertise, operational experience, organisational capacity, work programmes, financial strength, and their ability to execute projects within stipulated timelines before progressing to the commercial bid stage.
Eyesan described the evaluation process as rigorous, objective and transparent, dismissing speculation that commercial bids had been compromised before the official opening.
“Nobody has seen anybody’s commercial bids, and we will demonstrate that today,” the NUPRC official stated.
Eyesan disclosed that about 300 companies initially expressed interest in the 50 assets on offer, saying 196 firms were prequalified, while 143 eventually submitted 200 technical and commercial bids covering 37 assets.
Eyesan said the strong participation of indigenous and international firms reflected growing investor confidence following reforms introduced under the PIA.
She noted that the assets have the potential to add about 500 million barrels to Nigeria’s proven reserves and increase crude oil and condensate production by at least 300,000 barrels per day within three years, supporting the country’s target of producing three million barrels per day by 2030.
Beyond boosting production, the NUPRC commissioner said the projects would increase government revenue, improve foreign exchange earnings, create jobs, promote technology transfer and stimulate economic growth.
However, Eyesan warned successful bidders against treating licences as investment trophies, stressing that the PIA’s “drill or drop” provisions empower the commission to revoke licences where development does not commence within three years.
“The award should not be a trophy. Our expectation is that successful bidders will work these assets,” she said.
FG returns 13 unsold oil blocs to licensing pool
Eyesan also clarified that emerging as the preferred bidder does not automatically confer a Petroleum Prospecting Licence, adding that successful companies must still meet post-bid conditions, including payment of signature bonuses, submission of guarantees, payment of first-year rent and execution of contractual agreements within 90 days.
She warned that failure to meet the conditions within the stipulated period would invalidate the offer, allowing reserve bidders to be considered.
The NUPRC official also explained why 13 of the 50 oil blocks received no bids, attributing the development to the high exploration risks associated with frontier acreages.
She added that additional technical studies would be carried out to de-risk the assets before they are offered again.
Also speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, said the PIA had ended the era of discretionary allocation of oil blocks.
“The PIA has prevented discretionary allocation of oil blocks. These licences shouldn’t become trophies,” he said, recalling that previous licensing rounds saw companies acquire assets without the technical or financial capacity to develop them.
Similarly, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the licensing round would attract fresh upstream investment, expand gas reserves, strengthen domestic supply and advance Nigeria’s Decade of Gas initiative.
Also speaking, the NUPRC’s Deputy Director of Lease Administration, Expiration and Acreage Management, Dr. Amba Egba, said the technical evaluation covered geology, reservoir development, drilling plans, facilities design, health, safety and environmental standards, decommissioning strategy and economic modelling.
Egba revealed that some bidders lost marks for basic errors, including referencing the wrong oil blocks in their submissions, adding that commercial bids remained encrypted until the official opening and only technically qualified companies proceeded to the commercial stage.
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