Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, Chief Executive of NUPRC
…Commissions targets higher oil and gas production
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has unveiled 40 oil and gas assets for its 2026 licensing round as part of efforts to deepen investment, boost production and strengthen Nigeria’s energy security.
This was disclosed by the Chief Executive of NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan.
The CCE said the licensing round was designed to attract investors, expand exploration activities, create jobs and increase government revenue.
Speaking at the Nigeria Association of Energy Correspondents (NAEC) conference themed “Access to Assets: Empowering Players and Driving Growth,” the NUPRC boss highlighted ongoing reforms aimed at removing investment barriers and improving access to Nigeria’s petroleum resources.
The Commission recently marked its fifth anniversary in Abuja, where it reviewed its achievements over the past five years and launched the 2026 licensing round.
The CCE said the new bid round follows previous licensing exercises conducted in 2022/2023, 2024 and 2025, reflecting its commitment to sustaining investment in the upstream petroleum sector.
To improve investor participation, the Commission, with the approval of President Bola Tinubu has been reducing signature bonuses and providing high-quality seismic data to help investors assess assets and make informed investment decisions.
At the 2025 licensing round, 50 oil and gas blocks were offered, attracting interest from nearly 300 companies. Ultimately, 37 assets were taken up, including acreages in frontier basins.
The Commission described the growing interest in frontier basins, including the Anambra Basin, Benue Trough, Chad Basin and Benin Basin, as a significant development, noting that investors were increasingly looking beyond the Niger Delta for petroleum opportunities.
It said successful development of the assets offered in the 2025 round could add about 500 million barrels to Nigeria’s crude oil reserves and deliver at least 300,000 barrels per day of crude oil and condensate production within the next five years.
The assets are also projected to contribute an additional 20 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves and 500 million standard cubic feet per day of gas production, supporting the Federal Government’s Decade of Gas initiative.
The Commission stressed that transparency and accountability would remain central to the licensing process, noting that the country’s petroleum resources must be managed in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and in the interest of present and future generations.
It also explained that the criteria for previous licensing rounds were published in advance, bids were submitted through a digital portal and opened publicly in the presence of observers and the media, while results were announced openly.
For the 2026 bid round, the NUPRC pledged to make the award process more consistent and predictable while providing comprehensive, up-to-date and investment-ready technical data to prospective bidders.
It added that the 2026 Licensing Round Guidelines would clearly outline eligibility requirements, bidding parameters, evaluation criteria and conditions of award to ensure a level playing field for Nigerian and international investors.
The Commission also plans to expand communication channels through its licensing round portal, virtual data room, webinars and a dedicated help desk. It said enquiries would receive timely responses and material clarifications would be shared with all participants to ensure equal access to information.
The NUPRC CCE gave further details of the 2026 licensing round would be released in the coming days, expressing confidence that lessons learnt from previous exercises would make the new round more effective.
Beyond licensing, the Commission identified restoring more than 788,000 barrels per day of shut-in production across 63 operators, advancing offshore projects estimated at $30 billion to $50 billion to final investment decisions, and increasing domestic gas delivery from about two-thirds of obligated volumes to full compliance as key priorities.
The Commission also disclosed that at least 77 wells had been successfully re-entered in 2026, while 128 wells had received drilling approval, as part of efforts to accelerate upstream operations and increase production.
NUPRC added that the Federal Government’s executive orders targeting deep offshore investments, alongside regulatory reforms and faster approval processes, were positioning Nigeria to achieve its production ambitions by 2030.
However, it emphasised that achieving these targets would require the cooperation of industry stakeholders, particularly the media, whose reporting could influence investor confidence and perceptions of Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
The Commission called on journalists to support the country’s investment drive through accurate and balanced reporting, describing their role as important to national development and the transformation of the upstream petroleum industry.
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