The Federal Government has withdrawn 13 oil and gas blocks from the 2025 Licensing Round after they failed to attract investor bids. The announcement was made by Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), during the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference in Abuja on Tuesday. Of the 50 blocks offered across seven sedimentary basins, only 37 received interest, with 143 companies submitting approximately 200 commercial bids for those assets. Eyesan described the outcome as remarkable, citing growing confidence in Nigeria's oil and gas sector.
The licensing round, launched on November 11, 2025, under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, included 16 onshore blocks in the Niger Delta, 18 shallow water blocks, one deep offshore block, and others spread across the Benin, Anambra, Chad, and Benue basins. The online bidding portal opened December 1, 2025, followed by a pre-bid conference in Lagos on January 14, 2026. Prequalification registration closed February 27, 2026, with screening completed March 16. From nearly 300 initial expressions of interest, 196 companies advanced to prequalification, eventually narrowing to 143 qualified bidders.
Evaluation of bids will be based on a weighted framework combining signature bonuses, work programmes, performance security, and technical and commercial assessments. The NUPRC said the process is designed to ensure only financially strong and technically capable firms win rights to the assets, with the aim of boosting exploration and production in the upstream sector.
The NUPRC celebrates 200 bids as a sign of sector confidence while 13 blocks failed to draw any interest at all. That contradiction suggests investor enthusiasm is concentrated in select areas, leaving much of Nigeria's oil potential untouched. What happens to the unbid blocks could reveal whether the government will revise terms or risk prolonged stagnation in those regions.
Editorial note: AI-assisted opinion, not established fact. Full disclaimer →
