The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has opened 50 oil and gas blocks across five sedimentary basins for bidding and exploration in the 2025 licensing round, warning that only technically competent and financially strong firms will be allowed to scale through the process.

The commission said the exercise is designed to eliminate speculative participation and reposition Nigeria’s upstream sector as a transparent, rules-based destination for long-term investment.

The Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, made this known on Wednesday during the 2025 licensing round pre-bid webinar, where the regulator outlined the framework, evaluation criteria, and commercial terms guiding the bid process.

Eyesan said the licensing round should be viewed as a strategic intervention to grow reserves, improve production, and strengthen Nigeria’s energy security in a rapidly evolving global energy landscape.

“This upstream sector is serious business. It is for long-term investment, and it is an open invitation to partnership, transparency, and shared responsibility as we work together to shape the next phase of Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas industry,” she said.

According to her, the commission has adopted a strictly merit-based approach that places technical competence and financial capacity at the centre of the selection process.

“Only candidates with strong technical and financial credentials, professionalism, and credible plans will move forward. Winners will be chosen through a transparent, merit-based process that takes you from award to exploration, appraisal, and ultimately full production,” Eyesan stated.

She disclosed that the 50 oil and gas blocks on offer are spread across five of Nigeria’s seven sedimentary basins, giving investors access to both frontier and mature terrains.

“In this licensing round, 50 oil and gas blocks across Nigeria are available, allowing investors to access the country’s key basins and create long-term value,” she said.

Eyesan added that, with the approval of President Bola Tinubu, the Commission had reviewed the commercial structure of the bid round to lower entry barriers while discouraging unserious bidders.

She revealed that signature bonuses for the 2025 licensing round have been set within a $3m–$7m range, with greater emphasis placed on work programmes and speed to production.

The CCE said the new structure places greater emphasis on technical capability, credible work programmes, and speed to production, rather than aggressive cash bids, as Nigeria competes for mobile global capital amid tightening energy security and supply.

“With the approval of His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, signature bonuses for the 2025 licensing round are now set within a value range of $3m–$7m that reduces entry barriers and places greater weight on what truly matters, technical capability, credible work programmes, financial strength, and the ability to deliver production within the shortest possible time,” she said.

According to her, the decision was informed by global capital mobility and the need to make Nigeria competitive in attracting serious, long-term upstream investors.

“This has been done deliberately to increase competitiveness and in response to capital mobility. The upstream sector is serious business. It is for long-term investment, and it is an open invitation to partnership, transparency, and shared responsibility,” Eyesan stated.

The NUPRC boss said the licensing round follows a five-stage process comprising registration and pre-qualification, data acquisition, technical bid submission, evaluation, and a commercial bid conference.

She stressed that the entire exercise would comply strictly with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, with digital tools deployed to ensure transparency and public accountability.

“Let me emphasise clearly that the bid process will comply with the Petroleum Industry Act, promote the use of digital tools for smooth data access and remain open to public and institutional scrutiny through NEITI and other oversight agencies,” Eyesan said.

She added that all licensing materials had been uploaded on the commission’s portal since December 1, 2025, with dedicated support channels created to respond promptly to investor enquiries.

Eyesan reaffirmed that the entire process would comply fully with the PIA 2021, with extensive use of digital tools to ensure transparency and public scrutiny.

“The bid process will comply strictly with the PIA, promote the use of digital tools for smooth data access, and remain open to public, international, and institutional scrutiny through NEITI and other oversight agencies,” she said.

The NUPRC boss concluded that the 2025 licensing round represents a strategic signal to global investors that Nigeria’s upstream sector has been re-engineered for long-term value creation.

“Let me emphasise clearly that the Nigeria 2025 Licensing Round is not merely a bidding exercise. It is a clear signal of a re-imagined upstream sector, anchored on the rule of law, driven by data, aligned with global investment realities, and focused on long-term value creation,” Eyesan said.

In a technical presentation to participants, the Director of Lease Administration, Exploration and Acreage Management at NUPRC, Amber Ndoma-Egba, said the 2025 licensing round cuts across the Chad Basin, Benue Trough, Anambra Basin, Bida Basin, and the Niger Delta Basin.

He explained that the technical evaluation would focus on subsurface understanding, exploration work programmes, development concepts, sustainability, host community plans, and lifecycle management.

“We look at your understanding of the block, your subsurface evaluation, your exploration work programme, your development and production concept, sustainability, decarbonisation objectives, and host community development. Technically weak firms will not scale through this process.

“We have seven sedimentary basins in Nigeria. We have the Sokoto Basin, the Chad Basin. We have the Benin trough, Bida Basin, Anambra Basin, Benin Basin, and, of course, the mature Niger Delta Basin. This licensing round will take place across five of the seven sedimentary basins,” Ndoma-Egba said.

On commercial terms, Ndoma-Egba disclosed that the Commission, in a bid to support investment, had approved a minimum work performance security of one per cent, although bidders could voluntarily increase it to improve their technical score.

“The Commission Chief Executive, in the spirit of enablement and support for investment, has approved that the minimum work performance security should be one per cent. However, bidders may boost this if they want a higher weighting in their score,” he said.

He said bidders must clearly outline their exploration plans within the initial exploration period, three years for onshore assets and five years for deepwater and frontier blocks.

“We look at your understanding of the block, your subsurface evaluation, your exploration work programme, your development and production concept, evacuation and facilities planning, sustainability, decarbonisation objectives, and host community development

He also confirmed that final winners would emerge based on a weighted combination of technical and commercial scores, in line with the Petroleum Industry Act.

On December 1, 2025, the NUPRC announced the official commencement of the 2025 petroleum licensing round, targeting about $10 billion in new investments.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has approved a temporary window allowing importers to use expired National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control licences for import documentation, offering short-term relief to businesses affected by system changes in Nigeria’s trade processing framework.

In a circular issued on January 26, 2026, by its Trade and Exchange Department and published on the bank’s website on Tuesday, the CBN said authorised dealer banks may continue to process Form M applications with NAFDAC licences that expired on December 31, 2025.

The approval, which takes effect immediately, will run for two months and lapse on February 28, 2026.

The circular, signed by Aliyu M. Ashiru for the Director of the Trade and Exchange Department, read, “The Central Bank of Nigeria wishes to notify all Authorised Dealer Banks and the general public of a temporary dispensation offered by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control permitting the continued use of NAFDAC licences that expired on 31st December, 2025, for the processing of Forms M for a two-month temporary dispensation ending February 28, 2026.”

The apex bank explained that the approval followed a temporary dispensation granted by NAFDAC and applies strictly to Form M processing during the period. It said the measure was necessitated by operational challenges linked to the migration from the legacy Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System II platform.

According to the CBN, importers have been unable to validate or renew NAFDAC licences since the transition, particularly due to difficulties encountered on the B’Odogwu platform after December 2025.

To ease the bottlenecks and prevent delays in import documentation, the bank directed all authorised dealer banks to continue accepting the affected licences within the approved window.

The CBN stressed that the arrangement itime-bound and urged banks to comply strictly with its terms, noting that the approval would lapse automatically on February 28, 2026. It added that the move is intended to ensure continuity in trade transactions while NAFDAC completes the integration of its systems with the National Single Window.

Earlier in October 2025, The PUNCH reported that the Federal Government announced a decisive step toward digitalising and streamlining the nation’s import and export processes with the formal unveiling of the National Single Window and a new Trade Facilitation Portal.

The initiative, championed by the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, is expected to drastically reduce bureaucracy, enhance transparency, and improve Nigeria’s global trade competitiveness.

The National Single Window is a single, centralised digital platform where all stakeholders, including customs and regulatory agencies, importers, and exporters, can submit standardised trade and regulatory documentation.

The government has set a firm target for the National Single Window to become fully operational by the first quarter of 2026, specifically in March 2026.