The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has announced the completion of the pre-qualification stage of the 2025 Licensing Round.
In a statement NUPRC’s Head, Media and Strategic Communication, Eniola Akinkuotu, said it has notified successful pre-qualified applicants accordingly and was done on March 16, 2026 in line with the 2025 Licensing Round Guidelines.
“With the pre-qualification stage now successfully completed, the commission will from March 17, 2026, permit successful applicants to lease data in preparation for the technical and commercial bid submissions.”
He said pre-qualified applicants are mandated to lease data only from the two data sources (as applicable) and upload evidence of payment as a prerequisite to the submission of bids.
Daily Trust reports that the NUPRC had kicked off the process for the award of 50 oil blocs.
The 2025 Licensing Round is the third in a series of licensing rounds, aimed at further development of this prospective petroleum basin.
The licensing round is being held in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA), which features enhanced legal and regulatory frameworks aimed at encouraging new investors and investments in the next phase of exploration in this region.
The commission had listed 50 oil blocks covering the Onshore, Shallow Water, and Deep Offshore areas to be offered to investors.
The blocks include 15 onshore blocks, 19 shallow water blocks, 15 frontier assets and 1 deepwater block.
The commission gave a breakdown of the blocks to include, Petroleum Prospecting License (PPL) 2A29, PPL 2A30, PPL 2A31, PPL 2A32, PPL 2A33, PPL 2A34, PPL 2A35, PPL 2A36, PPL 2A37, PPL 2438, PPL 2A39 and PPL 2A40.
Others include; PPL 2A41, PPL 2A42, PPL 2443, PPL 2A44, PPL 2A45, PPL 2A46, PPL 2A47, PPL 2A48, PPL 2A49, PPL 2A50, PPL 2A51, PPL 2A52, PPL 2A53, PPL 2A54, PPL 2A55, PPL 2A56, PPL 2A57, PPL 2A58, PPL 2A59, PPL 2A60, PPL 2A61, PPL 2A62, PPL 2010, PPL 307, PPL 308 and PPL 309.
Also, there is PPL 900, PPL 901, PPL 902, PPL 903, PPL 700, PPL 701, PPL 702, PPL 703, PPL 800, PPL 801, PPL 802 and PPL 803.
$10bn investment targeted
The commission had projected that the 2025 licensing round would attract about $10bn in investments and add up to 2 billion barrels of oil output over the next 10 years with an estimated 400,000 barrels/Day of production volumes when the blocks are fully operational.
In a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) posted on its website, the commission said signature bonus would be required from all bidders to submit a bid within a range of $3 million and $7 million as approved by the minister of petroleum for the reduction of entry barriers.
Daily Trust reports that with the completion of the prequalification stage, the commission according to its timetable would now proceed to the technical and commercial bid stage with the process expected to conclude in July, 2026.