The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, has given winners of Nigeria’s 2025 Licensing Round 90 days to meet all post-award conditions or risk losing their acreage.
NUPRC Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, gave the warning on Tuesday,a t the Commercial Bid Conference in Abuja on Tuesday, themed “Expanding Opportunities: Right Play, Right Place, Right Time.”
She said winners must provide guarantees, pay signature bonus and first-year rent, and sign contract documents within 90 days of receiving their offer letters.
She added: “A winning bidder that fails to fulfil the prescribed conditions within 90 days of receiving its offer letter will lose its entitlement to the asset.”
She hinted that reserve bidders will be invited in ranking order to take up any forfeited acreage.
She explained that the tight window reflects the Commission’s resolve to keep speculators out of Nigeria’s upstream sector.
She added: “The government is not seeking speculative holders of acreage; it is seeking partners with the capacity, discipline and commitment to deliver measurable production and economic value.”
According to her, the auction, which commenced eight months ago on the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, drew interest from about 300 companies across 50 available assets.
After prequalification, she said, 196 applicants advanced to the bidding stage, and by the submission deadline, 143 companies had filed 200 technical and commercial bids covering 37 assets.
She disclosed that winners were determined not by the highest cash offer alone, but by a weighted aggregate score combining technical evaluation with commercial factors — signature bonus, work programme commitment and work programme performance security — to identify bidders capable of delivering the best long-term value to the country.
The assets on offer could add about 500 million barrels to Nigeria’s reserves, which currently stand at 37.01 billion barrels of crude oil and condensate and 215.19 trillion cubic feet of gas.
She said, once developed over the next three years, the awarded blocks are projected to contribute a minimum of 300,000 barrels per day, in support of Nigeria’s target of hitting three million barrels per day by 2030.
She noted that the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) observed the bid evaluation and opening process to reinforce public confidence in the exercise, and reiterated that Tuesday’s announcement of winners does not by itself amount to the final grant of a Petroleum Prospecting Licence, as successful bidders must still clear the 90-day post-bid conditions.
She confirmed that President Tinubu has approved 2026 licensing round, assuring fresh acreage opportunities for investors who missed out earlier.