Thirteen Oil Blocks Return to Nigeria’s Licensing Pool

The Federal Government has announced that 13 oil and gas blocks offered during the 2025 Licensing Round will return to the national licensing pool after failing to receive bids from investors. The update was shared on Tuesday in Abuja by Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) Chief Executive Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan during the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference.

According to Eyesan, the 2025 Licensing Round offered 50 oil and gas blocks across several sedimentary basins, but only 37 blocks attracted interest from investors. “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 said.

Despite the unclaimed assets, Eyesan described the 2025 Licensing Round as a positive exercise. She revealed that 143 companies took part in the commercial bidding process, submitting around 200 bids. The process initially attracted almost 300 expressions of interest, which she said reflected increasing confidence in Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas sector.

She explained that the prequalification stage reduced the number of interested companies to 196 before the technical and commercial evaluation phases. “From the almost 300 expressions of interest we received, the prequalification process narrowed the number to 196 companies. Eventually, 143 companies participated in the commercial bidding exercise, submitting about 200 bids,” Eyesan said.

The 2025 Licensing Round, launched in November 2025 under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, 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 four in the Benue Trough.

Under the licensing framework, authorities assess bids using factors such as signature bonus commitments, proposed work programmes, technical expertise, financial strength and performance guarantees. The goal is to award the assets to investors capable of expanding oil and gas exploration and increasing production across Nigeria.

Do you think stronger investor incentives could help attract more interest in future 2025 Licensing Round exercises?