In a major strategic move to revitalize its underperforming oil sector, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), has officially launched the Nigeria 2025 Oil and Gas Licensing Round, putting 50 blocks up for bid.
The ambitious exercise, which commenced on December 1, 2025, is designed to attract significant global investment, reverse the decline in crude oil exploration, and boost the nation’s long-term production capacity.
The NUPRC Chief Executive, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, announced the details in Abuja, stating that the bid round is expected to run for six months and achieve critical national energy goals with an investment target to attract approximately $10 billion in new upstream investments; add up to 2 billion barrels to Nigeria’s oil reserves over the next decade; and deliver an estimated 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of production volumes when the assets are fully operational.
Komolafe stressed that this move aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s directive to make Nigeria not just open for business but “irresistible for investment.“
The blocks on offer span diverse geological terrains, appealing to a wide range of local and international investors:
Onshore Assets: 15 blocks
Shallow Water: 19 blocks
Frontier Assets: 15 blocks (intended to deepen exploration in unproven areas)
Deep Water Asset: 1 block
The largest concentration of tracts is in the prolific Niger Delta Basin, with a notable focus on deep and shallow water assets.
The 2025 Licensing Round is being conducted under the framework of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which mandates a transparent and competitive bidding process. Key features of the new round include:
The entire bidding process, from pre-qualification to bid submission and evaluation, is managed through a dedicated online portal to ensure transparency and speed; the process involves a qualification stage followed by a technical and commercial bid stage for shortlisted applicants; and a new safeguard has been introduced, compelling bidders to provide financial guarantees to ensure they proceed to field development once awarded a block, thereby preventing speculative holding of national assets.
This move follows the successful conduct of the 2024 Licensing Round, which earned commendations for its transparency and lack of litigation.
The aggressive launch of the 2025 licensing round sends a strong signal to the global market that Nigeria is serious about regulatory clarity and investment security, even as it battles severe internal security challenges (especially in its onshore oil-producing areas) and global energy transition pressures.
NUPRC has leveraged extensive multi-client surveys and seismic data reprocessing to provide bidders with high-quality data, effectively reducing exploration risk and lowering entry costs for investors.
For years, lack of investment had caused Nigeria’s reserves to dwindle. This licensing round, with its focus on undeveloped fields and frontier areas, is the most direct policy tool to reverse that trend and secure long-term production stability.
The round also strongly aligns with the push for gas development, recognizing gas’s crucial role in domestic power generation and Nigeria’s energy transition strategy.
The success of this $10 billion bid round will be a crucial test of the PIA’s effectiveness and the Tinubu administration’s ability to attract long-term capital despite domestic security concerns and global shifts toward renewable energy.
