The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has said it has commenced the 2026 licensing round, with 40 oil and gas blocks on offer.
Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, chief executive officer (CEO) of the NUPRC, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at the commission’s 55th anniversary celebration.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the wait is over. It is with great joy that I announce that pursuant to the approval of His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, and the Minister of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian 2026 Licensing Round is hereby launched,” she said.
“This round offers 40 blocks across land, shallow water and deepwater terrains. I can see my IOC is already permuting. They are open to investors with the technical competence, financial capability and, above all, the commitment to develop Nigeria’s petroleum resources.”
The CEO said the latest announcement followed the completion of the 2025 licensing round, which attracted considerable interest from both local and international oil companies.
Eyesan said 143 companies submitted 200 bids during the 2025 round, while 31 companies emerged as winners of 37 blocks.
She said the exercise also reflected a notable change in investor interest beyond the traditional producing areas of the Niger Delta, with frontier basins such as the Anambra Basin, Benue Trough, Chad Basin, and Benin Basin attracting investors.
The CEO added that the oil blocks offered in the 2025 bid round have the potential “to add about 500 million barrels of reserves and expected to contribute at least 300 million barrels per day of crude oil and condensates within the next five years”.
“They are also expected to add 20 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas reserves and 20 billion standard cubic feet (scf) of gas per day in support of our decade of gas,” she said.
Eyesan said since the inception of the commission, it had conducted three licensing exercises, including the 2022 deep offshore mini bid round, the 2024 Nigerian licensing round, and the 2025 Nigerian licensing round, resulting in the award of 57 petroleum prospecting licences.
