The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has declared that the era of oil companies holding on to exploration licences for years without developing the assets is officially over, as new provisions under the Petroleum Industry Act compel operators to either develop their fields or relinquish them.
The Commission Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed this while receiving a delegation from the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Eyesan also expressed satisfaction with the level of investor interest recorded so far in Nigeria’s 2025 oil licensing round, describing the number of applicants as encouraging despite stricter bidding conditions introduced by the regulator.
This was contained in a statement issued on Friday by the Head of Media and Corporate Communications at the commission, Eniola Akinkuotu.
According to Eyesan, the response from investors to the licensing round has demonstrated renewed confidence in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector following regulatory reforms introduced by the Petroleum Industry Act.
She said the ongoing exercise involves 50 oil blocks currently on offer, adding that the strong level of participation was recorded despite a rule limiting companies to a maximum of two blocks, whether bidding individually or as part of a consortium.
“For the 2025 licensing round, we have 50 oil blocks on offer. And the outcome of the pre-qualification submission was a demonstration that there is indeed a very good appetite for the bid round,” Eyesan said.
She explained that the commission deliberately introduced restrictions on the number of blocks that companies can bid for in order to prevent asset hoarding and encourage wider participation from investors.
According to her, the policy ensures that exploration assets are allocated to companies that are genuinely ready to invest and develop them. Eyesan also disclosed that the commission had taken additional steps to strengthen transparency and investor confidence in the licensing process.
She said the regulator engaged an independent audit firm to review the digital bidding system and validate its integrity.
“In order to ensure total transparency in the licensing round, the commission added an extra layer of validation by partnering with a reputable audit firm to interrogate the system and validate that the system is foolproof. The result of that exercise will be made public just to boost investor confidence,” she stated.
The NUPRC boss said the introduction of the “drill or drop” provision under Section 94 of the Petroleum Industry Act has fundamentally changed the way exploration licences are managed in Nigeria.
She noted that the provision compels operators to either commence exploration and development activities within a specified timeframe or surrender the licence to the government.
According to her, the reform has eliminated the longstanding practice where companies held on to oil blocks for decades without developing them.
Eyesan said, “One of the beauties of the PIA is Section 94, which compels operators to either commence work or relinquish the licence, what we call the drill or drop provision.
“The PIA also opened opportunities for both small and big players because there is now a drill or drop provision in the Act. So we have cured the problem of uncertainties.”
She explained that prior to the reform, some operators retained prospecting licences for as long as 20 years without carrying out meaningful exploration work, thereby slowing down Nigeria’s efforts to expand its petroleum reserves.
“In the past, we had operators who had 20-year licences and sat on these blocks and did absolutely nothing.
“Now we have moved from that era to drill or drop. So we have more assets in the basket, which has given us the impetus to even consider holding bid rounds more frequently, possibly on an annual basis,” the CCE noted.
She added that the policy shift has helped return more dormant assets to the government’s portfolio, thereby creating new opportunities for investors in the ongoing licensing round.
According to the commission, the renewed interest in the bid round could also support Nigeria’s long-term goal of increasing its proven crude oil reserves and sustaining upstream investments.
Nigeria currently holds some of the largest hydrocarbon reserves in Africa, but exploration activity has slowed in recent years due to regulatory uncertainty, security challenges, and global energy transition pressures.
The enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021 has helped restore investor confidence by introducing clearer fiscal terms, improved regulatory frameworks, and stricter accountability requirements for operators.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone, Foday Mansaray, said his country was seeking to learn from Nigeria’s regulatory experience in developing its own hydrocarbon sector.
Mansaray explained that the delegation’s visit to the NUPRC was aimed at deepening bilateral cooperation and gaining insights into Nigeria’s petroleum governance framework.
“We are here to collaborate with the NUPRC at a bilateral level and learn from Nigeria, our big brothers in the industry,” he said. “We are a small country of just eight million people, but very ambitious, and we believe there is a lot we can learn from Nigeria’s experience in managing the petroleum sector.”
He also called for stronger energy collaboration between both countries and proposed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to formalise cooperation in regulatory capacity building and petroleum sector development.
The 2025 oil licensing round was formally launched in December 2025 following approval by President Bola Tinubu as part of efforts to attract fresh investment into the country’s upstream petroleum sector.
The bid round offers 50 oil and gas blocks located across several sedimentary basins, including the Niger Delta, Anambra, Bida, Benue Trough, and Chad basins, with the objective of boosting exploration activity, increasing reserves, and supporting long-term crude production growth.
As of now, the process has completed the pre-qualification stage, with the submission window closing on February 27, 2026, after which qualified companies are expected to proceed to the technical and commercial bidding phase, where bids will be evaluated before final awards are announced.
Overall, the licensing round is expected to run for about eight months, from November 2025 to July 2026, when the commercial bid conference and final approvals are scheduled to conclude the process.
