The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has unveiled an ambitious plan to attract $10bn in new investments and unlock up to two billion barrels of crude oil reserves through the newly commenced Nigeria 2025 Petroleum Licensing Round.
The Chief Executive of NUPRC, Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, who unveiled the new bid round in Abuja on Monday, said that the exercise, covering 50 oil and gas blocks across onshore, shallow-water, frontier, and deepwater terrains, would help reverse declining exploration activity, expand reserves, and boost national production.
Komolafe explained that the round marks a major step in the country’s push to revitalise exploration and boost long-term production capacity.
He said that the commission had unveiled detailed guidelines on its portal, br2025.nuprc.gov.ng, and adopted a two-stage bidding process designed to ensure credibility, investor confidence, and fairness, as prescribed by Section 73 of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
“The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission is proud to formally announce the commencement of the Nigeria 2025 licensing round and the launch of the licensing round online portal br2025.nuprc.gov.ng.
“This announcement is in line with Section 73 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, which prescribes a fair, transparent, and competitive bidding process. Further to this, the NUPRC, following the gracious approval of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has listed 50 oil and gas blocks across onshore, swamp/shallow water, and offshore terrains spanning diverse basins,” he said.
Of these 50 blocks, 15 are onshore assets; shallow water 19; frontier 15, and 1 deep water asset.
According to the NUPRC, the 2025 round is expected to significantly deepen upstream activity over the next decade, with projections indicating that the awarded blocks could collectively deliver up to 400,000 barrels per day upon full operationalisation.
“The Nigeria 2025 licensing round is therefore expected to attract about $10 billion in investments and add up to 2 billion barrels of oil output over the next 10 years with an estimated 400,000 barrels/Day of production volumes when the blocks are fully operational,” he added.
The NUPRC boss stressed that transparency remained central to the 2025 bid round, which will run for six months. The 2025 round builds on the gains of the 2024 licensing round, which introduced digital platforms, automated workflows, and improved data access to speed up the bid process.
GIK/APA