The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has given 31 companies awarded 37 oil and gas blocks in the 2025 Licensing Round 60 more days to complete their post-award obligations or risk losing their provisional licences.
The commission issued the warning on Thursday, exactly one month after the 2025 commercial bid conference was held in Abuja, where the successful bidders were announced.
According to NUPRC, the awardees are required to pay their signature bonuses, provide the necessary guarantees and complete all outstanding documentation within the 90-day period stipulated under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
With 30 days already elapsed, the successful companies now have 60 days remaining to fulfil the conditions attached to their provisional awards.
In a statement posted on its X handle, the commission said the payment process had already commenced.
“Exactly a month ago the commission held the 2025 commercial bid conference in Abuja, where 31 companies emerged as provisional winners of 37 blocks. Having issued the winners with the provisional awards, compliance with the payment of signature bonuses has already begun,” NUPRC said.
The commission warned that companies that fail to meet the post-award requirements within the prescribed period could forfeit both their bid guarantees and provisional awards.
Such blocks would subsequently be offered to reserve bidders who ranked next to the successful companies during the evaluation process.
At the commercial bid conference held on July 21, NUPRC Chief Executive Officer Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan had clarified that winning a bid did not automatically translate into the issuance of a Petroleum Prospecting Licence (PPL).
She said successful bidders must first provide the required guarantees, pay the applicable signature bonus and first-year rent, and execute all relevant contractual documents.
Eyesan said the entire process was being conducted in accordance with the PIA 2021 and gave the successful bidders 90 days from the date of their offer letters to satisfy the requirements.
“If you have been told anything contrary to the fact that this process was going to be credible and transparent, do not believe it,” she said.
The NUPRC boss also warned that the commission would enforce the “drill-or-drop” principle against operators that fail to develop their awarded assets within the required timeframe.
However, she said the regulator would support credible operators facing genuine operational difficulties.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, also stressed the importance of ensuring that the latest awards result in actual exploration and production activities.
He said the PIA had eliminated discretionary allocation of oil blocks and introduced a more transparent process for awarding petroleum assets.
“The PIA, unfortunately for some people, has prevented discretionary allocation of oil blocks,” Lokpobiri said.
He added that no government official had access to the commercial bids before they were officially opened.
The minister warned successful bidders against treating oil licences as speculative assets to be traded or used merely to attract investors.
“In the past, I have seen people go round conferences across the world carrying licences and looking for partners who never came. Those days must be over. The licences issued today must translate into actual field development and production,” he said.
The 2025 licensing round covered several petroleum-producing and frontier areas across Nigeria.
Among the successful companies are SSonic Petroleum Limited, Asharami Deepwater Resource Limited, Gupsco Energy Limited, Blackrock Energy Holdings Limited, Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited and Concept-Real Petroleum Services Limited.
Concept-Real Petroleum Services Limited emerged as the winner of two blocks, PPL 2A47 and PPL 2A55.
The licensing round also extended to Nigeria’s frontier basins. Dakoda and U Limited secured blocks in the Benin Basin and Benue Trough, while Nikstalis Nigeria Limited, Attabason Global Company Nigeria Limited, Southborne Oil and Gas Limited and Lanaka Petroleum Limited secured onshore blocks in the Anambra Basin.
NNPC E&P Limited did not emerge among the successful bidders but was listed as a reserve bidder for PPL 2A32 in the Niger Delta onshore area.
Several of the awarded blocks have multiple reserve bidders. PPL 2A29, PPL 2A32, PPL 2A50 and PPL 2A51 each have four reserve bidders listed behind the successful companies.
NUPRC has projected that the 37 blocks could contribute about 500 million barrels to Nigeria’s crude oil reserves and increase oil production by at least 300,000 barrels per day within three years.
The additional production is expected to support the Federal Government’s target of raising Nigeria’s crude oil output to three million barrels per day by 2030.
