The Federal Government has announced that 13 oil and gas blocks offered during the 2025 Licensing Round will be withdrawn from the current bidding process after failing to attract investor interest.
The disclosure was made on Tuesday in Abuja by the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, during the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference.
According to Eyesan, although the government placed 50 oil and gas assets on offer, only 37 of them attracted bids from prospective investors.
“At the end of the exercise, we had 50 blocks on offer, but we only had representation for 37 of those 50 blocks.
“Thirteen of those blocks will be returning back to the basket,” she said.
Despite the 13 unsuccessful blocks, the NUPRC chief described the licensing exercise as a strong success, revealing that 143 companies submitted approximately 200 commercial bids for the available assets.
“We have a total of 143 companies showing interest for 200 bids. That, for us, was remarkable, and I must say thank you,” Eyesan stated.
She noted that the level of participation reflected growing confidence in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, pointing out that interest in the exercise was much higher at the initial stage.
“When we started the journey, we got interest from almost 300 companies. I repeat, almost 300 companies. That, in my view, was an indication that the tide has turned for Nigeria,” she said.
Eyesan explained that the number of interested firms was significantly reduced after the commission concluded its screening process to ensure only qualified participants advanced to the next stages of the exercise.
“From the almost 300 interests that we got, we moved to the pre-qualification stage, and that number was pruned down to 196,” she added.
She said the process eventually produced 143 qualified companies that collectively submitted about 200 bids during the commercial phase of the licensing round.
The Federal Government launched the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, offering 50 oil and gas blocks spread across seven sedimentary basins.
The assets include 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 another four in the Benue Trough.
The online bidding portal opened on December 1, 2025, while a pre-bid conference was held in Lagos on January 14, 2026, to guide interested investors through the application process.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, with the screening exercise completed on March 16.
Under the NUPRC’s evaluation framework, successful bidders are determined through a weighted assessment that combines signature bonus commitments, proposed work programmes and performance security, alongside technical and commercial evaluations.
The commission said the approach is intended to ensure that only financially capable and technically competent investors secure the oil and gas assets, with the goal of accelerating exploration activities and boosting production across Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector.
(Ripples)