The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on Monday, December 1, 2025, said it expects to generate about $10 billion from the 2025 oil licensing bid round. The Commission’s Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe revealed this during the launch of the licensing round portal in Abuja.
According to him, the six-month exercise begins on December 1, 2025, and is designed to boost Nigeria’s crude oil reserves and production capacity over the next decade. He explained that when the newly offered blocks become fully operational, they could contribute up to 2 billion barrels of oil and an estimated 400,000 barrels per day to national output.
Komolafe said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the release of 50 oil and gas blocks for the 2025 round. The blocks include 15 onshore assets, 19 in shallow waters, 15 frontier locations and one deep water block.
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He noted that the key goals of the round are to grow reserves through aggressive exploration, raise government revenue and expand job opportunities. According to him, thousands of direct and indirect jobs are expected across technical, logistics, infrastructure and local content segments, especially in communities hosting the assets. He added that the programme will also improve opportunities for gas development as part of Nigeria’s energy transition efforts.
Komolafe said the Commission has taken steps to reduce exploration risks by reprocessing extensive 2D and 3D seismic data to create clearer, high-resolution images of the country’s petroleum systems. He noted that this gives investors greater certainty and access to some of the best geophysical datasets available in Africa. He also announced the official launch of the licensing round portal: [email protected]
