Nigeria Launches 2025 Oil Licensing Round Targeting $10 Billion Investment and 400,000 bpd Production Boost
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has officially opened the 2025 Licensing Round, offering 50 high-potential oil and gas blocks across onshore, shallow water, deepwater, and frontier basins in a bid to attract approximately $10 billion in new investments and add up to 400,000 barrels per day of crude oil production.
Speaking at the launch event, NUPRC Chief Executive Engr. Gbenga Komolafe announced that the round comprises:
– 15 onshore blocks
– 19 shallow-water blocks
– 15 frontier exploration assets
– 1 deepwater block
Bidders can now access the dedicated portal at br2025.nuprc.gov.ng.
Komolafe described the 2025 round as the most investor-friendly in Nigeria’s history, featuring:
– Significantly reduced signature bonuses (now around N200 million) to encourage broader participation
– Extensive pre-round de-risking through multi-client geophysical surveys and the reprocessing of thousands of kilometres of 2D and 3D seismic data – described as the highest-quality subsurface dataset currently available in Africa
– A transparent, litigation-free process building on the success of the 2022 Mini-Bid Round and the landmark 2024 Licensing Round
The Commission projects that successful development of the awarded blocks will:
– Add up to 2 billion barrels to national reserves over the next decade
– Deliver 400,000 bpd of incremental oil production
– Significantly expand natural gas utilisation
– Create thousands of direct and indirect jobs while enhancing indigenous participation
Separate Probe Launched into Alleged Mismanagement of Gas Infrastructure Fund
In a related development, the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of the ‘Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund’ administered by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) from 2021 to date.
The decision follows the NMDPRA’s repeated failure to respond to parliamentary summonses issued in July and August 2025 requesting detailed accounts of the fund’s collection and utilisation.
Lawmakers highlighted that the fund, established under Section 52 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, is financed through a 0.5% levy on the wholesale price of petroleum products and natural gas sold in Nigeria. The committee expressed concern over apparent violations of statutory remittance timelines and the absence of National Assembly appropriation for expenditures.
The Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation has been directed to complete the forensic audit and submit findings within 60 days, with a mandate to identify any mismanagement, misappropriation, or non-remittance by wholesale customers.
The twin developments underscore Nigeria’s dual focus on aggressively expanding upstream investment while strengthening governance and accountability across the entire petroleum value chain.
