The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission(NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, on Monday, 1 December, 2025 unveiled an ambitious plan to attract about $10 billion in new investments and unlock up to two billion barrels of crude oil reserves through the newly commenced Nigeria 2025 Petroleum Licensing Round.
Komolafe, while unveiling the bid round in Abuja on Monday, 1 December, 2025, said the exercise, covering 50 oil and gas blocks across onshore, shallow-water, frontier and deepwater terrains, would help reverse declining exploration activity, expand reserves and boost national production.
According to NUPRC boss, the round marks a major step in the country’s push to revitalise exploration and boost long-term production capacity.
Komolafe said the Commission had unveiled detailed guidelines on its portal, br2025.nuprc.gov.ng, and adopted a two-stage bidding process designed to guarantee credibility, investor confidence and fairness as prescribed by Section 73 of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
“The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission is proud to formally announce the commencement of the Nigeria 2025 licensing round and the launch of the licensing round online portal br2025.nuprc.gov.ng.
“This announcement is in line with Section 73 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, which prescribes a fair, transparent and competitive bidding process. Further to this, the NUPRC, following the gracious approval of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has listed 50 oil and gas blocks across onshore, swamp/shallow water and offshore terrains spanning diverse basins. Of these 50 blocks, 15 are onshore assets; shallow water 19; frontier 15, and 1 deep water asset,” NUPRC boss said.
According to him, the 2025 round is expected to significantly deepen upstream activity over the next decade, with projections indicating that the awarded blocks could collectively deliver as much as 400,000 barrels per day when they become fully operational.
“The Nigeria 2025 licensing round is therefore expected to attract about $10 billion in investments and add up to 2 billion barrels of oil output over the next 10 years with an estimated 400,000 barrels/Day of production volumes when the blocks are fully operational,” he added.
The NUPRC boss stressed that transparency remained central to the 2025 bid round, which will run for six months.
The 2025 round builds on the gains of the 2024 licensing round, where the Commission introduced digital platforms, automated workflows and improved data access to speed up the bid process.
The process begins with a qualification stage, where applicants or their consultants must submit extensive documentation for evaluation.
Only shortlisted firms will proceed to the bid stage, where they will sign confidentiality agreements and submit both technical and commercial proposals.
