By Abubakar Yunusa
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says it plans to commence its next oil licensing round by early October.
In an interview with S&P Global, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, NUPRC’s chief executive officer (CEO), said the bidding round would include 13 unlicensed blocks from the last round.
“Officials are preparing to kick off the next round of auctioning by early October at the latest, with new acreage including the 13 unlicensed blocks returning to the pool from the last round,” Eyesan said.
“New assets will span the country’s deepwater, shallow water and possibly frontier onshore basins.
“These will be annual, if possible, even twice-annual events. At a minimum, we’ll be going to the market on an annual basis.”
Eyesan said future licensing rounds would have a turnaround time of six to seven months.
According to the CEO, the concessions are expected to increase Nigeria’s oil production by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) within the first three years.
“The target will be 300,000-600,000 b/d from successive bid rounds,“ she said.
Eyesan said the commission would be more selective about the assets offered in the next round, following concerns over the viability of some blocks included in the previous auction.
“I knew we were going to have a problem with some of the blocks,” the NUPRC boss said, acknowledging that the regulator “took a gamble” by putting some licenses on the market prematurely.
She said the latest round is designed to attract new entrants rather than major international oil companies, citing Renaissance and First E&P as examples of newer operators that have recorded success in Nigeria’s upstream sector.
The NUPRC also hopes to attract $30 billion to $50 billion in new investment into 22 deepwater projects by 2030.
Eyesan said a package of new tax incentives and changing investor perceptions, following the US-Iran war, could support investment in Nigeria’s deepwater sector.
The commission chief said Nigeria’s domestic crude supply obligation requires producers to supply fixed volumes to local refineries.
However, Eyesan said companies are free to capitalise on better offers from foreign buyers.
“To modernize the system, the NUPRC aims to introduce a compliance trading platform, allowing those overfulfilling their obligations to swap certificates with export-oriented producers,” she said.
The NUPRC boss also said Dangote refinery should be allowed to make crude procurement decisions based on pure economics, acknowledging the refiner’s efforts to diversify its crude intake.
“I would not begrudge Dangote if [it’s] not picking up domestic crude,” Eyesan said.
“It might not be prudent to procure those grades as opposed to cheaper alternatives.”
Eyesan added that Nigeria has the potential to increase crude production in another eight to 10 years.
In June, the commission said the 2026 oil licensing round will commence by the third quarter (Q3) of 2026, following approval by the minister of petroleum resources.
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