The Federal Government has opened bidding for 40 oil blocks in the 2026 Nigerian licensing round, with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) introducing stricter transparency requirements for prospective investors.
The blocks, spread across land, shallow water and deepwater terrains, will be available to investors with the technical expertise, financial capacity and commitment required to develop Nigeria’s petroleum resources.
NUPRC Chief Executive Officer, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, announced the licensing round during the commission’s fifth anniversary celebration on Tuesday.
She said the exercise had received the approval of President Bola Tinubu and the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
“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 Ahmed Tinubu … the Nigerian 2026 Licensing Round is hereby announced,” Eyesan said.
“This round offers 40 blocks across land, shallow water and deepwater terrains.”
Beneficial Owners Must be Disclosed
Under the new bidding guidelines, companies participating in the licensing round will be required to disclose their beneficial owners, while the commission will publish more detailed information on its evaluation methodology and the results of the exercise.
Eyesan said the changes were informed partly by lessons from previous licensing rounds and recommendations from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
According to her, NEITI’s review of the 2022–2024 licensing rounds found the process generally professional, transparent and inclusive, but identified areas requiring improvement.
These included the evaluation methodology, disclosure of results, public access to bidding information and beneficial ownership disclosure.
Eyesan said NUPRC had accepted the recommendations and would incorporate them into the 2026 licensing exercise.
She stressed that the reforms were intended to make the award of petroleum acreage more transparent and predictable.
“Of all the reforms the PIA brought, none speaks more to who we are than this: in Nigeria, petroleum acreage is won, not given. It is no longer discretionary,” she said.
“The PIA made transparent and competitive bidding the rules for the award of Petroleum Prospecting Licences and Petroleum Mining Leases. Clear rules have taken the place of discretion.”
2025 Round Attracted 200 Bids
The latest licensing exercise follows the conclusion of the 2025 licensing round, which attracted substantial interest from Nigerian and international oil companies.
According to NUPRC, 143 companies submitted 200 bids, with 31 companies emerging as winners of 37 blocks.
The commission also reported increased investor interest in frontier basins outside Nigeria’s traditional Niger Delta producing areas.
The Anambra Basin, Benue Trough, Chad Basin and Benin Basin all attracted investor interest during the 2025 exercise.
Since the Petroleum Industry Act came into force in 2021, NUPRC said it has conducted three licensing exercises—the 2022 Deep Offshore Mini Bid Round, the 2024 Nigerian Licensing Round and the 2025 Nigerian Licensing Round. Together, the exercises resulted in the award of 57 Petroleum Prospecting Licences (PPLs).
