Nigeria's 2025 Licensing Round concluded on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, with 31 companies securing rights to 37 oil and gas blocks. The commercial bid conference, held at the Transcorp Event Centre in Abuja, attracted 143 companies that submitted approximately 200 bids for the 37 blocks that received offers out of the 50 blocks made available by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). The remaining 13 blocks drew no interest from bidders.
Awarded Blocks Span Diverse Terrains
The awarded blocks cover a range of terrains, including onshore and shallow-water areas in the Niger Delta, deep-offshore zones, and frontier basins such as the Benin, Anambra, and Chad basins, as well as the Benue Trough. According to Premium Times, the NUPRC highlighted the participation in the frontier basins as a landmark development, describing it as the first time those areas have attracted meaningful investor attention during a licensing exercise.
List of Winning Companies
Among the 31 winning companies are SSonic Petroleum Limited, CFP Pipeline and Flowlines, Dutchford E&P Limited, Attabanson Global Company Limited, Rosem Energy Limited, Pivot-GIS Limited, Network E&P, Asharami, LexOil, BVOF, Gupsco Energy Limited, Saratoga, Volante, Concept-Reel Petroleum Services Limited, Clinton Oil Field, Nuway Oaklane Limited, Ramec, Italia, Blueridge E&P, Up Energies Limited, AYM Shafa, Blackrock Holdings Limited, Funtay Integrated Business Limited, Riparian Development and Production Limited, Nikstallis, Stardeep Petroleum, Dakoda & U Limited, Southborne Oil and Gas Limited, Lanaka Petroleum, Highban Resources Limited, and Eyre Energy Limited.
However, the companies will not receive their formal awards immediately. The NUPRC said final approval requires each winner to first pay the applicable signature bonus and obtain clearance from the Minister of Petroleum Resources, as required under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
NUPRC Chief Warns on Undeveloped Assets
NUPRC Chief Executive Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan acknowledged President Bola Tinubu's support in ensuring the round was conducted successfully. She congratulated the winning bidders but issued a firm warning: companies that fail to develop their awarded assets promptly risk having those assets withdrawn under the commission's "drill or drop" policy. According to Eyesan, "Winners must pay signature bonuses quickly or risk losing their blocks under a 'drill or drop' policy."
Representatives of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Federal Ministry of Finance, and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) monitored the conference to ensure the process complied with relevant laws and transparency standards.
