The Federal Government has announced that 13 oil and gas blocks offered during the 2025 Licensing Round will be returned to the national licensing pool after they failed to receive bids from prospective investors. The disclosure was made in Abuja during the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference by the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan.
According to Eyesan, the government made 50 oil and gas blocks available across different sedimentary basins, but only 37 attracted commercial interest from investors. She explained that the unbid assets would be returned to the national licensing basket for possible future offerings.
“At the end of the exercise, we had 50 blocks on offer, but representations were received for only 37 of them. The remaining 13 blocks will be returned to the licensing basket,” she stated.
Despite the 13 unclaimed blocks, the NUPRC chief described the licensing exercise as successful, noting that investor participation reflected increasing confidence in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector.
She revealed that nearly 300 companies initially expressed interest in the licensing round. Following the prequalification process, the number was reduced to 196 firms, while 143 companies eventually participated in the commercial bid stage by submitting about 200 bids. According to Eyesan, the high level of participation demonstrates sustained investor confidence in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry despite global market challenges.
The 2025 Licensing Round, launched in November 2025 under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, offered 50 oil and gas blocks spread across seven sedimentary basins nationwide. The available assets included 16 onshore blocks in the Niger Delta, 18 shallow water blocks, one deep offshore block, three blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin and another four in the Benue Trough.
The licensing process began with the opening of the application portal in December 2025. This was followed by a pre-bid conference held in Lagos in January 2026, while registration and prequalification closed in February before technical and commercial evaluations were concluded in March.
Under the licensing framework established by the Petroleum Industry Act, successful bidders are selected based on a weighted assessment that considers signature bonus commitments, proposed work programmes, technical capability, financial strength and performance guarantees. The Federal Government says the approach is designed to ensure that oil and gas assets are awarded to qualified investors capable of accelerating exploration, production and long-term growth in Nigeria’s petroleum industry.
