Thirty-one companies have won licences to explore 37 oil and gas blocks in Nigeria's 2025 licensing round, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission announced on Tuesday. The bidding process, held at the Transcorp Event Centre in Abuja, drew interest from 143 firms that placed roughly 200 bids for the 37 blocks selected from 50 total offerings.
The awarded blocks span Nigeria's Niger Delta onshore fields, shallow water zones and deep offshore areas. They also extend into the Benin, Anambra and Chad basins as well as the Benue Trough.
Thirteen of the 50 blocks attracted no bids during the round. The NUPRC highlighted that frontier basins—the Benue Trough, Chad Basin, Anambra Basin and Benin Basin—generated investor appetite for the first time in a licensing exercise.
The successful bidders include SSonic Petroleum Limited, CFP Pipeline and Flowlines, Dutchford E&P Limited, Attabanson Global Company Limited, Rosem Energy Limited, Pivot-GIS Limited, Network E&P, Asharami, LexOil, BVOF and Gupsco Energy Limited. Others are Saratoga, Volante, Concept-Reel Petroleum Services Limited, Clinton Oil Field, Nuway Oaklane Limited, Ramec, Italia, Blueridge E&P and Up Energies Limited.
The list also includes AYM Shafa, Blackrock Holdings Limited, Funtay Integrated Business Limited, Riparian Development and Production Limited, Nikstallis, Stardeep Petroleum, Dakoda & U Limited, Southborne Oil and Gas Limited, Lanaka Petroleum, Highban Resources Limited and Eyre Energy Limited.
Winners will only receive final awards after paying signature bonuses and securing approval from the petroleum resources minister, as required by the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021. NUPRC chief executive Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan urged successful bidders to pay their bonuses promptly and begin developing their assets.
She warned that blocks left undeveloped face withdrawal under the commission's "drill or drop" policy. "Any asset left undeveloped could be withdrawn," she said, emphasising the need for swift action from the winning firms.
