The Federal Government has said companies offering the highest financial bids will not automatically win oil blocks in the ongoing 2025 Licensing Round, stressing that technical expertise and operational capacity will be key factors in selecting successful bidders.

 

 

Speaking at the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference in Abuja, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said the licensing process is designed to ensure that oil and gas assets are awarded to firms capable of developing them efficiently and sustainably.

 

 

She explained that the commission’s evaluation process goes beyond financial offers, with bidders being assessed on their technical competence, industry experience, operational strength, credibility of proposed work plans, resource commitment and ability to deliver projects within agreed timelines.

 

 

“The evaluation was rigorous. It was objective. It was simple. And it was to place assets in the hands of bidders capable of delivering the best overall long-term value. It wasn’t, or it isn’t going to be just about your ability to be the highest bidder.

 

 

“We want to ensure that you have the right capabilities to deliver the assets, in addition to having the financial resources to deliver these assets. The team carefully assessed each bidder’s competence and experience, organisational and operational capacity, credibility of their proposed work programme, resource commitment to execution, and the ability to deliver within the proposed time frame,” Eyesan said.

 

 

She also assured participants that the commercial bidding process remained transparent, noting that no bidder had prior knowledge of competing financial offers before the official opening.

 

 

“Today, the commercial components of the qualified bids will be opened. And as was said earlier, forget whatever you’ve been told, forget whatever you’ve heard, nobody has seen anybody’s commercial bids. And we will demonstrate that today.

 

 

“This approach of ensuring close bids is in recognition of the fact that these equities must be operated by credible, competent operators. Not, I repeat, by operators who can bid the highest,” she added.

 

 

The commercial bid opening marks the final stage of the licensing exercise before successful bidders are announced. The 2025 Licensing Round was launched on November 11, 2025, under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, with 50 oil and gas blocks made available across seven sedimentary basins in Nigeria.

 

 

The available assets include 16 onshore blocks in the Niger Delta, 18 shallow water blocks, one deep offshore block, three blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin and four in the Benue Trough.

 

 

The bid portal opened on December 1, 2025, while a pre-bid conference was held in Lagos on January 14, 2026, to guide prospective investors through the application process. Registration and prequalification submissions closed on February 27, with the qualification process completed on March 16.

 

 

Under the licensing framework, successful bids are determined using a weighted evaluation system that considers signature bonus commitments, proposed work programmes and performance security, combining both technical and commercial scores rather than relying solely on financial bids. This approach is intended to ensure that oil and gas assets are awarded to companies with the expertise, financial capacity and operational capability to drive exploration and production in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector.