Nigeria has unveiled an ambitious plan to attract $10 billion in new investments and unlock up to two billion barrels of crude oil reserves by offering 50 oil and gas blocks in its 2025 Petroleum Licensing Bid Round.
Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, announced this on Monday, explaining that the blocks span onshore, shallow-water, frontier, and deepwater terrains.
He noted that the latest bid round aims to reverse declining exploration activity, expand national reserves, and boost overall production. Komolafe described the exercise as a major step in Nigeria’s drive to revitalise upstream exploration and strengthen long-term production capacity.
According to him, the Commission has released detailed guidelines on its portal—br2025.nuprc.gov.ng—and adopted a two-stage bidding process designed to ensure credibility, investor confidence, and fairness, as prescribed by Section 73 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
He stated, “The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission is proud to formally announce the commencement of the Nigeria 2025 Licensing Round and the launch of the licensing round online portal, br2025.nuprc.gov.ng.
“This announcement is in line with Section 73 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, which prescribes a fair, transparent, and competitive bidding process. Further to this, the NUPRC, following the gracious approval of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has listed 50 oil and gas blocks across onshore, swamp/shallow-water, and offshore terrains spanning diverse basins.”
Of the 50 blocks, 15 are onshore assets, 19 are in shallow-water areas, 15 are frontier blocks, and one is a deepwater asset. According to the NUPRC, the 2025 round is expected to significantly scale up upstream activity over the next decade, with projections indicating that the awarded blocks could collectively produce up to 400,000 barrels per day when fully operational.
“The Nigeria 2025 Licensing Round is therefore expected to attract about $10 billion in investments and add up to two billion barrels of oil over the next 10 years, with an estimated 400,000 barrels per day of production when the blocks are fully operational,” he added.
Komolafe emphasised that transparency remains central to the 2025 bid round, which will run for six months.
The 2025 round builds on the gains of the 2024 Licensing Round, which introduced digital platforms, automated workflows, and enhanced data access to streamline the bid process. Komolafe recalled that Nigeria’s recent licensing initiatives—the 2022 Mini-Bid Round and the landmark 2024 Licensing Round—were conducted with “unprecedented transparency, unmatched global competitiveness, and extensive investor engagement.”
He noted that the 2024 round was particularly significant, earning commendations from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and other stakeholders, and was concluded “remarkably without any petitions or litigations.”
According to him, these achievements demonstrate that the Commission has restored credibility to the licensing process.
The Petroleum Industry Act, passed in 2021, seeks to reverse years of declining investment by establishing transparent processes, competitive fiscal terms, and an empowered regulator mandated to conduct periodic licensing rounds to boost reserves and production.
The 2025 Licensing Round—offering 50 blocks across multiple terrains—is a central element of this broader agenda to rebuild investor confidence, deepen indigenous participation, and reposition Nigeria as a competitive global investment destination.
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