KEY POINTS
- Nigeria has launched its 2025 oil licensing round, introducing a digital bidding portal to modernise the process and attract investment.
- President Tinubu approved 50 blocks across onshore, shallow water, frontier and deepwater terrains, with reduced signature bonuses to lower entry costs.
- The two-stage, fully automated bidding process aims to raise transparency, draw up to 10 billion dollars in new investment and potentially add two billion barrels to reserves.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, has opened the country’s latest oil licensing round, unveiling a fully digital bidding portal in an effort to revive exploration interest and pull in fresh capital into the upstream sector.
The NUPRC said the new system, introduced on Monday in Abuja, is designed to bring more clarity, reduce cost barriers and reassure investors that the country is serious about improving transparency.
Speaking at the briefing, the Commission Chief Executive, Gbenga Komolafe, explained that the portal, accessible via br2025.nuprc.gov.ng, reflects months of technical work to modernise how Nigeria markets its exploration assets.
He said the NUPRC is determined to remove long-standing bottlenecks that have slowed investment inflows, adding that the platform will allow bidders to navigate the process without the delays typically associated with manual paperwork.
Komolafe recalled Nigeria’s recent attempts at licensing rounds, pointing to the 2022 Mini-Bid Round and the 2024 edition, which he said attracted commendation from transparency watchdogs and ended without disputes.
The absence of litigation, he argued, had strengthened confidence within the industry and encouraged the commission to take the next step by expanding the number of assets on offer.
Tinubu Approves 50 Oil and Gas Blocks Across Multiple Terrains
With the approval of President Bola Tinubu, the commission has placed 50 blocks on the market, spread across onshore, shallow water, frontier basins and deepwater acreage. The breakdown includes 15 onshore blocks, 19 shallow water prospects, 15 frontier assets and a single deepwater block.
Komolafe said the scale of the offer is tied to broader government ambitions to rebuild oil reserves, lift production, expand domestic gas utilisation, raise indigenous participation and create thousands of new jobs.
Ahead of the launch, the President signed off a reduction in signature bonuses to bring the cost of entry closer to what investors see in other jurisdictions. He added that years of multi-client surveys and improved seismic reprocessing have significantly de-risked exploration, a major concern for operators wary of sinking capital into uncertain terrains.
The commission projects that the 2025 round could draw in as much as 10 billion dollars in new investment and add as much as two billion barrels to reserves over the next decade. If the awarded assets are fully developed, the commission believes they could collectively yield about 400,000 barrels a day.
Komolafe stressed repeatedly that transparency remains central to the process, noting that full guidelines have been published on the agency’s website. He said the commission is focused on providing stability and predictability, especially at a time when investors are scrutinising the regulatory climate in oil-producing countries with greater intensity.
