2025 Licensing Round: NUPRC Announces Eligibility Details For For 50 Oil Blocks

CHIDI UGWU

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on Monday unveiled crucial eligibility and bidding details for its 2025 Licensing Round—offering 50 Petroleum Prospecting Licence (PPL) blocks across onshore, shallow water, and deep offshore regions.

According to a document entitled 2025 Licensing Round and Roadshow, which was shared by Eniola Akinkuotu, this
Head, Media and Strategic Communication this major initiative aims to expand Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves, attract foreign direct investment, boost local content, and generate employment while strengthening global energy security.

The licensing round officially runs from November 17, 2025, through July 17, 2026, featuring key milestones such as a portal launch, prequalification assessments, technical and commercial bidding, evaluation phases, a bid conference, ministerial approval, and final contracting.

The document stated that both Nigerian and international companies qualify to participate, with no requirement for foreign entities to be previously registered in Nigeria.

However, successful bidders must incorporate under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) to qualify for license awards.

“Applicants must demonstrate good financial standing, technical expertise, and regulatory compliance.

“Firms indebted to the government, insolvent, or non-compliant with laws are excluded.

“Applicants must submit incorporation certificates, tax clearance documents, financial capacity proof, and credentials validating their technical capabilities.

“Each bidder is restricted to a maximum of two blocks across the entire 2025 bidding portfolio to ensure fair competition and focused commitment.

“The two-stage bidding involves qualification and bid submissions, with evaluations based on signature bonuses (ranging between USD 3 million and USD 7 million), proposed work programmes, unit operating costs, technical and human resource capacity, bank guarantees, audited balance sheets, environmental commitments, and corporate governance standards.

“Financial criteria differ by block types: companies bidding for deep offshore licenses require an average turnover of at least USD 100 million, while onshore and shallow water bids require at least USD 40 million.

“Newly formed companies must provide parent company guarantees to demonstrate financial backing.Blocks on Offer

“The 50 blocks include onshore and shallow water licences designated PPL 2A29 through PPL 2A62, as well as deep offshore and frontier blocks such as PPL 2010, 307-309, 900-903, 700-703, and 800-803.

“To ensure broad international visibility, NUPRC will host a global roadshow: Lagos (January 14, 2026), Dubai (January 26), Singapore (January 30), Beijing (February 3), and Houston (February 12).

“Interested parties can access the full licensing guidelines and register on the official portal: br2025.nuprc.gov.ng.”

This 2025 Licensing Round marks a pivotal opportunity for investors to contribute to Nigeria’s energy future through exclusive drilling rights granted for initial terms of 3 to 5 years, extendable upon satisfactory performance in exploration and appraisal activities.