One month after the conclusion of the 2025 Nigerian oil and gas licensing round, winners of the bid process have commenced payment of signature bonuses for the blocks provisionally awarded to them.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) disclosed this in a post on X on Thursday, saying the payment process had already commenced following the issuance of provisional awards to successful bidders.

The commission said the development came exactly one month after it hosted the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference in Abuja, where 31 companies emerged winners of 37 oil and gas blocks.

“Exactly a month ago, the NUPRC hosted the 2025 commercial bid conference in Abuja where 31 companies emerged winners of 37 oil and gas blocks,” the commission stated.

It added that following the issuance of provisional awards, successful bidders had begun complying with the requirement to pay the prescribed signature bonuses.

The payment of signature bonuses is a key obligation attached to the provisional awards and forms part of the conditions that successful bidders must satisfy before their awards can progress to the next stage of the licensing process.

The NUPRC warned that companies that fail to meet the payment deadline risk losing both their bid guarantees and the provisional awards.

“Winners who fail to pay signature bonuses within the stipulated time frame in line with the Petroleum Industry Act will forfeit their bid guarantee and lose their provisional awards to the reserve bidders,” the commission said.

Daily Trust had earlier reported that the Federal Government could generate about N353 billion from signature bonuses payable by successful bidders in the 2025 oil block licensing round, despite significantly reducing the mandatory entry fees to encourage greater investment in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector.

The estimate is based on the NUPRC’s revised signature bonus of between $3 million and $7 million per block, replacing the flat $10 million charge imposed during the 2024 licensing round.

The reduction, contained in the Commission’s “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the NUPRC 2025 Licensing Round” released in December, 2025, represents a cut of between 30 per cent and 70 per cent from the previous fee structure.

The 2025 licensing round recorded strong investor interest, with 143 companies submitting 200 bids for 37 of the 50 oil and gas blocks offered by the Federal Government.

The available acreage covered diverse 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.

Out of the 50 blocks placed on offer, 37 attracted bids while 13 received no applications.

The 2025 licensing round is part of efforts by the Federal Government and the NUPRC to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas sector, increase exploration and production activities and strengthen government revenue.

The emergence of 31 successful companies for 37 blocks represents a significant step in the process of bringing new investors and operators into Nigeria’s upstream industry.

The licensing process is being conducted under the framework of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which provides the legal and regulatory basis for the administration of petroleum resources and promotes transparency, competitiveness and investment in the sector. (Daily Trust)