The Federal Government has opened the 2025 Petroleum Licensing Round, aiming to attract $10bn in new investments and unlock up to 2 billion barrels in crude reserves, according to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Announcing the bid round in Abuja, NUPRC Chief Executive Gbenga Komolafe said the exercise covers 50 oil and gas blocks across onshore, shallow-water, frontier and deepwater basins. He described it as a major step toward reviving exploration, boosting reserves and strengthening long-term production.
Komolafe said full guidelines have been posted on the bid portal and noted that the two-stage bidding process is designed to ensure transparency under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
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The available blocks include 15 onshore, 19 shallow-water, 15 frontier, and one deepwater asset, with potential output estimated at 400,000 barrels per day when fully developed.
He added that only firms that demonstrate strong technical and financial capacity will advance beyond the qualification stage to submit commercial and technical proposals. Winners will be announced during the commercial round.
Komolafe said the 2025 round builds on reforms introduced last year, including digital workflows and expanded data access to streamline the licensing process. All required documents and maps have been published on the portal.
