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•Offers 37 blocks to investors, targets 500m barrels reserve addition
Why 13 blocks returned to basket, NUPRC
By Udeme Akpan & Obas Esiedesa
The Federal Government yesterday said the ongoing 2025 Licensing Round is expected to deliver an additional 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and condensate production within three years
Speaking at the Commercial Bid Conference in Abuja, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said the new production would support the government’s target of raising national oil output to three million bpd by 2030.
She said: “The assets available in this licensing round have the potential to add about 500 million barrels to Nigeria’s reserves. Over the next three years, once successfully developed, these assets are expected to contribute a minimum of 300,000 barrels per day of crude oil and condensate production.”
Eyesan added that the assets could raise Nigeria’s crude oil and condensate reserves, currently estimated at 37.01 billion barrels, while strengthening the country’s 215.19 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.
According to her, about 300 companies expressed interest in the 50 assets. Following prequalification, 196 firms qualified, while 143 companies submitted 200 technical and commercial bids covering 37 assets. She disclosed that 13 blocks attracted no bids and had been returned to the licensing basket.
Explaining the development, she said: “Some of these assets are in frontier basins; they have not yet been de-risked. We were not surprised when we saw that some of these assets returned with no bidders. We will do more work to de-risk these assets and bring them back to the market.”
Eyesan said the exercise followed President Bola Tinubu’s directive to ensure transparency and international best practices, stressing that winners would be determined by a weighted combination of technical and commercial scores rather than the highest signature bonus.
She reiterated: “Our message is clear: drill or drop. Work programmes must be implemented, financial commitments honoured and agreed milestones achieved.”
She also announced that President Tinubu had approved another licensing round for 2026, adding that successful bidders would have 90 days to meet post-award conditions or forfeit their licences to reserve bidders.
Reacting, National President of the Oil and Gas Services Providers Association of Nigeria (OGSPAN), Mazi Colman Obasi, said: “The increased upstream investments will undoubtedly translate into higher oil and gas production, which currently stands at about 1.7 million barrels per day, including condensate.”
He added: “The Federal Government’s ?68.32 trillion 2026 budget is based on a crude oil production target of 1.84 million bpd. With sustained upstream investments and successful execution of ongoing projects, Nigeria is expected to record meaningful improvements in oil production over time.”
Also, petroleum economist Prof. Iledare Wumi said: “My reaction is one of cautious optimism. Nigeria is not visionless; rather, it has been execution-deficient. Dreams alone do not transform nations. It takes transformational leadership, institutional discipline and sustained execution to turn vision into reality.”