Thirty-one companies have emerged winners of 37 oil and gas blocks at the 2025 Licensing Round after a keenly contested bidding process, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has said.
Last December, the NUPRC opened bidding for 50 oil and gas blocks, aiming to attract $10 billion in investment.
The commission said these blocks were drawn from diverse terrains including the Niger Delta Onshore (16), Niger Delta Shallow Water (18), Niger Delta Deep Offshore (1), Benin Basin Onshore (3), Anambra Basin Onshore (4), Chad Basin Onshore (4) and Benue Trough (4).
On Tuesday, the NUPRC said 143 companies qualified for the commercial bid stage of the 2025 oil licensing round, while 13 of the 50 oil blocks on offer attract no bids and will be returned to the government’s licensing basket.
“A total of 143 companies had submitted 200 bids for 37 out of the 50 oil and gas blocks originally put on offer,” the commission said.
The commission said the 37 blocks that attracted bids were drawn from all the terrains, including the frontier basins like the Benue Trough, Chad Basin, Anambra Basin and the Benin Basin.
In her opening remarks at the Commercial Bid Conference held in Abuja on Tuesday, the NUPRC Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, explained that the licensing round has progressed through several distinct phases, including registration, prequalification, data access, bid preparation, and submission.
She said the winning bidder for each asset will be the bidder with the highest weighted aggregate score and the bid that delivers the best overall long-term value to the government, not simply the highest immediate payment.
Announcing the winner in a statement by its Head, Media and Corporate Communications, Eniola Akinkuotu, the NUPRC said this is the first time in Nigeria’s energy history that frontier basins would attract such a level of investor interest.
Winners
The winning companies and the blocks they secured, according to NUPRC are: SSonic Petroleum Limited (PPL 2A29), CFP Pipeline and Flowlines (2A30), Dutchford E&P Limited (2A32), Attabanson Global Company Limited (2A33 and PPL 901), Rosem Energy Limited (2A38), Pivot-GIS Limited (2A39), Network E&P (2A40), Asharami (2A41), LexOil (2A42), BVOF (2A43), Gupsco Energy Limited (2A44 and 2A51), Saratoga (2A45), Volante (2A46), Concept-Reel Petroleum Services Limited (2A47 and 2A55), Clinton Oil Field (2A48 and 2A62) and Nuway Oaklane Limited (2A49).
Others are Ramec (2A50), Italia (2A53), Blueridge E&P (2A54), Up Energies Limited (2A56), AYM Shafa (2A57), Blackrock Holdings Limited (2A58), Funtay Integrated Business Limited (2A59), Riparian Development and Production Limited (2A60), Nikstallis (2A61 and PPL 900), Stardeep Petroleum (PPL 2010), Dakoda & U Limited (PPL308 and PPL 800), Southborne Oil and Gas Limited (PPL 902), Lanaka Petroleum (PPL 903) Highban Resources Limited (PPL 700), Eyre Energy Limited (PPL 801).
The commission said these firms will only be presented with final awards after the payment of the appropriate signature bonus and the approval of the Minister of Petroleum Resources in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
Mrs Eyesan thanked President Bola Tinubu for supporting the commission to deliver a seamless licensing round.
While congratulating the winners, she urged them to pay their signature bonuses as quickly as possible and also develop their assets or risk losing them in line with the drill or drop provision enforced by the commission.
‘The commercial bid conference was closely monitored by representatives of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Nigeria Extractive Industry and Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and several other stakeholders in line with the extant laws,” the NUPRC said.
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