The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) will on January 14, 2026, determine its procedures for the assessment of the 2025 Licensing Round.

This was contained in the announcement of the Lagos pre-bid conference the commission issued yesterday.

NUPRC said, “The focus areas of the upcoming pre-bid conference include the implementation timetable, the bid package preparation, eligibility terms, and the assessment and winners determination procedure.”

It also said, “The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has officially announced a pre-bid conference for the ongoing 2025 licensing round. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, January 14, 2026, starting at 9:00 AM at the Grand Ballroom, Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos.

Besides a statement signed by the Commission Chief Executive, Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, and dated 8th January, 2026, said the conference serves as a follow-up to earlier notices published in local and international newspapers, in line with the requirements of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

She added, “This announcement is sequel to a notice already published by the NUPRC in foreign and local newspapers in line with the Petroleum Industry Act. The focus areas of the upcoming pre-bid conference include: The implementation timetable, the bid package preparation, eligibility terms, the assessment, and the winners’ determination procedure.

Recall that last year, the NUPRC announced the commencement of the bid process, which had a six-month timeline on December 1.

One of the highlights of the expectations was that it was designed to attract $10 billion in investments in the next 10 years.

According to the erstwhile NUPRC chief executive officer, Gbenga Komolafe, “The Nigeria 2025 licensing round is therefore expected to attract about $10 billion in investment and add up to 2 billion barrels of oil output over the next 10 years, with an estimated 400,000 barrels per day of production volumes when the blocks are fully operational.”

On December 8, 2025, NUPRC announced that the minimum financial requirement for an entity to participate in the 2025 licensing round is an average of $100 million for deep offshore blocks, while an average of $40 million is required for onshore and shallow water blocks.

This was contained in the “FAQs on the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC’s) 2025 Licensing Round.”

The document, which was released virtually, said, “Average annual turnover of USD$100,000,000.00 for deep offshore blocks and USD$40,000,000 for onshore and shallow water blocks or

“Minimum Cash in bank of USD$100,000,000.00 for deep offshore blocks and USD$40,000,000.00 for onshore and shallow water blocks, or Bank Guarantee to the tune of USD$100,000,000.00 for deep offshore, USD$40,000,000.00 for onshore, and shallow water blocks, or “For newly incorporated companies, a parent company guarantee to the tune of USD$100,000,000.00 in deep offshore, USD$40,000,000.00 in onshore and shallow water.”

NUPRC also said that from the $10 million per block charge in the 2024 oil block bid round, the Federal Government has reduced the signature bonus to between a minimum of $3 million and a maximum of $7 million in the 2025 bid round.

This is an indication of a 70 percent and 30 percent crash, according to the document.

According to NUPRC, “The Nigerian government has graciously reduced the signature bonus to between $3 million and $7 million.”

The document noted that the Minister of Petroleum Resources has approved the new signature bonus to reduce entry barriers.

“All Bidders shall be required to submit a bid within a range of $3 million and $7 million as approved by the Minister of Petroleum for the reduction of entry barriers,” said NUPRC.

The document explicitly stated that the designated signature bonus account is United States dollar- denominated, an indication that it is not denominated in local currency (Naira).

NUPRC said the exercise is a score-based approach, taking into consideration the following parameters: Signature bonus (provided it is within the prescribed limit), and Work programme.

It also said the score-based approach considers unit cost per barrel with reference to the work programme, professionalism, human and technical capacity.

It also looked into the percentage of bank guarantees made available, the balance sheet, Turnover, Green story, decarbonisation programme, and corporate governance structure.

NUPRC said no bidder, whether participating individually or as a member of any consortium, shall submit applications for more than two assets in total across all applications.

It stressed, “Participation in more than one consortium shall count towards this limit. For the avoidance of doubt, where a company has equity, direct or indirect ownership, or management involvement in multiple consortium vehicles, all such applications shall be aggregated and treated as a single bidder’s application.”

The document said the applicant’s Technical Competence will be evaluated using work experience across the under-listed work areas: Geological and geophysical capabilities; drilling and well engineering, reservoir evaluation and management; production engineering and technology; Development planning and facilities engineering and management. (The Nation)