The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has named 31 companies winners of 37 oil and gas blocks in the 2025 Licensing Round after a competitive process.
The awards followed a commercial bid conference held on Tuesday at the Transcorp Event Centre in Abuja. The round drew 200 bids from 143 companies for 50 blocks offered across the Niger Delta and frontier basins.
Thirty-seven blocks received bids while 13 attracted none. The commission described the outcome as a milestone because frontier basins such as the Benue Trough and Chad Basin saw strong investor interest for the first time.
Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, the commission chief executive, congratulated the winners and urged them to pay signature bonuses promptly. She reminded bidders that licences could be lost under the drill-or-drop rules of the Petroleum Industry Act if development does not begin on schedule.
Final awards require payment of the bonuses and approval from the Minister of Petroleum Resources. Several companies won more than one block.
