- Awards not final, requires final approval from Ministry of Petroleum Resources
Thirty-one oil and gas companies have emerged as winners of 37 petroleum blocks following the conclusion of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round, marking one of the country’s most competitive upstream bid exercises and the first to attract significant investor interest in frontier basins.
The commercial bid conference, held on Tuesday 21 July, 2026 at the Transcorp Event Centre in Abuja, saw 143 companies submit 200 bids for 37 of the 50 oil and gas blocks offered by the Commission.
The blocks on offer spanned multiple geological terrains, including 16 Niger Delta Onshore blocks, 18 Niger Delta Shallow Water blocks, one Deep Offshore block, three Benin Basin Onshore blocks, four Anambra Basin Onshore blocks, four Chad Basin Onshore blocks and four Benue Trough blocks.
Of the 50 blocks offered, 37 attracted bids, while 13 received no submissions. Notably, all the frontier basins, the Benue Trough, Chad Basin, Anambra Basin and Benin Basin, recorded successful bids, a development the Commission described as the first of its kind in Nigeria’s petroleum licensing history.
Successful bidders include:
- SSonic Petroleum Limited (PPL 2A29),
- CFP Pipeline and Flowlines (2A30),
- Dutchford E&P Limited (2A32),
- Attabanson Global Company Limited (2A33 and PPL 901),
- Rosem Energy Limited (2A38),
- Pivot-GIS Limited (2A39),
- Network E&P (2A40),
- Asharami (2A41),
- LexOil (2A42),
- BVOF (2A43),
- Gupsco Energy Limited (2A44 and 2A51),
- Saratoga (2A45),
- Volante (2A46),
- Concept-Reel Petroleum Services Limited (2A47 and 2A55),
- Clinton Oil Field (2A48 and 2A62),
- Nuway Oaklane Limited (2A49),
- Ramec (2A50),
- Italia (2A53),
- Blueridge E&P (2A54),
- Up Energies Limited (2A56),
- AYM Shafa (2A57),
- Blackrock Holdings Limited (2A58),
- Funtay Integrated Business Limited (2A59),
- Riparian Development and Production Limited (2A60),
- Nikstallis (2A61 and PPL 900),
- Stardeep Petroleum (PPL 2010),
- Dakoda & U Limited (PPL 308 and PPL 800),
- Southborne Oil and Gas Limited (PPL 902),
- Lanaka Petroleum (PPL 903),
- Highban Resources Limited (PPL 700), and
- Eyre Energy Limited (PPL 801).
The Commission clarified that the successful companies would receive their final Petroleum Prospecting Licence (PPL) awards only after payment of the applicable signature bonuses and approval by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, in accordance with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
Speaking after the bid process, the Commission Chief Executive, Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for providing the support that enabled the Commission to conduct what she described as a seamless and transparent licensing exercise.
She congratulated the successful bidders and urged them to promptly fulfil their financial obligations by paying the required signature bonuses. Eyesan also reminded the companies of the Commission’s strict enforcement of the Petroleum Industry Act’s “drill or drop” provisions, warning that undeveloped assets could be revoked.
The commercial bid conference was observed by representatives of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), and other stakeholders as part of measures to ensure transparency and compliance with existing regulatory requirements.
