The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has declared that the era of oil companies holding on to exploration licences for years without developing the assets is officially over, as new provisions under the Petroleum Industry Act compel operators to either develop their fields or relinquish them.
The Commission Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed this while receiving a delegation from the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Eyesan also expressed satisfaction with the level of investor interest recorded so far in Nigeria’s 2025 oil licensing round, describing the number of applicants as encouraging despite stricter bidding conditions introduced by the regulator.
This was contained in a statement issued on Friday by the Head of Media and Corporate Communications at the commission, Eniola Akinkuotu.
According to Eyesan, the response from investors to the licensing round has demonstrated renewed confidence in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector following regulatory reforms introduced by the Petroleum Industry Act.
She said the ongoing exercise involves 50 oil blocks currently on offer, adding that the strong level of participation was recorded despite a rule limiting companies to a maximum of two blocks, whether bidding individually or as part of a consortium.
“For the 2025 licensing round, we have 50 oil blocks on offer. And the outcome of the pre-qualification submission was a demonstration that there is indeed a very good appetite for the bid round,” Eyesan said.
