FG Opens Bids for 50 Oil and Gas Blocks as 143 Qualified Companies Submit 200 Bids

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has kicked off the commercial bid phase of its 2025 Oil and Gas Licensing Round, with 143 qualified companies submitting a total of 200 bids for 50 oil and gas blocks across Nigeria's producing and frontier basins. The commercial bid conference opened on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.

The event was open only to companies that received formal invitations after clearing a rigorous prequalification exercise. NUPRC's Head of Media and Corporate Communications, Eniola Akinkuotu, confirmed in a statement that all qualifying firms had been formally notified ahead of the conference.

Breakdown of Blocks on Offer

The 50 blocks on offer span several basins across the country. They include 16 onshore blocks in the Niger Delta, 18 Niger Delta shallow water blocks, and one Niger Delta deep offshore block. The remaining blocks cover frontier basins: three blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.

NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially applied for prequalification. Of those, 196 progressed to the technical and commercial bidding stage, and 143 ultimately submitted bids. The 143 firms filed a combined 200 bids for the 50 blocks, meaning several companies are pursuing more than one asset simultaneously.

How Winners Will Be Selected

The commission said successful bidders will be determined through a weighted scoring system that draws on both technical and commercial criteria. Evaluators will consider proposed signature bonuses, the scale of work programme commitments, and performance security arrangements when computing each company's final score.

The licensing round has been under way since November 11, 2025, when NUPRC formally announced the bid round. The bid portal went live on December 1, 2025, and a pre-bid conference followed on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos, where prospective investors were briefed on guidelines and evaluation procedures. Prequalification document submissions closed on February 27, 2026, and the prequalification results were released on March 16.

What This Means for Nigeria

The commission said the exercise is part of a broader federal government push to draw fresh investment into Nigeria's upstream oil and gas sector, widen exploration across frontier basins, grow crude oil and gas output, raise government revenue, and build out domestic refining capacity. With strong competition for the blocks, the round signals sustained investor interest in Nigeria's hydrocarbon assets despite global energy transition pressures.