Thirteen of the 50 oil and gas blocks offered under Nigeria’s 2025 Licensing Round failed to attract investor interest and will return to the bidding basket, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission announced Tuesday.
NUPRC chief executive Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan told the Commercial Bid Conference in Abuja that only 37 of the 50 blocks received representations from prospective investors. Despite this, she described the overall exercise as “remarkable,” noting 143 companies submitted roughly 200 bids for the available blocks, down from almost 300 companies that initially expressed interest before the process narrowed to 196 after prequalification.
The 2025 Licensing Round, approved by President Tinubu in December 2025 under the Petroleum Industry Act, covers seven sedimentary basins, including 16 Niger Delta onshore blocks, 18 shallow-water blocks, and blocks across the Chad Basin, Anambra Basin and Benue Trough.
Winning bids are determined through a weighted evaluation combining signature bonus commitments, proposed work programmes and performance security, rather than financial offers alone, aimed at ensuring assets go to investors with the technical and financial capacity to accelerate exploration.
Also read: 143 firms in final bidding stage for 50 oil blocks
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