NUPRC Opens Commercial Bidding for 50 Oil and Gas Blocks

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) opened the commercial bidding phase for its 2025 licensing round on July 21, 2026, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja. The conference aims to allocate oil and gas blocks—reported as 50 assets by some sources and 37 by others—to attract investment into frontier basins and increase national crude oil and gas production by at least 300,000 barrels per day.

The process began in November 2025 under the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021. Following a pre-bid conference in Lagos on January 14, 2026, and a pre-qualification phase involving 196 companies, 143 qualified firms submitted a total of 200 bids. The assets include 16 onshore and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, and various assets across the Benin, Anambra, Chad, and Benue basins.

NUPRC Chief Executive Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan detailed a drill or drop policy requiring winners to meet specific conditions within 90 days. Winning bids will be selected based on a weighted technical and commercial score emphasizing signature bonuses, work programme commitments, and performance security guarantees. To ensure transparency, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative observed the evaluation. Additionally, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has already approved the commencement of the 2026 bid round to sustain exploration and replenish national reserves.