The Federal Government has announced that 13 oil and gas blocks offered under Nigeria’s 2025 Licensing Round will be returned to the national licensing pool after they failed to secure interest from investors.
The announcement was made in Abuja on Tuesday by the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, during the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference.
According to Eyesan, the government had opened up 50 oil and gas blocks for investors across several sedimentary basins, but only 37 of the available assets received bids from interested companies.
“Out of the 50 blocks that were presented, we received representations for 37. The remaining 13 blocks will now be returned to the licensing basket,” she said.
Despite the unclaimed assets, the NUPRC chief described the outcome of the licensing exercise as a positive indication of continued investor confidence in Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas sector.
She revealed that the bidding process attracted significant interest, with 143 companies eventually taking part in the commercial bid stage and submitting nearly 200 bids for the available blocks.
Eyesan explained that interest was initially recorded from almost 300 companies, but the number was reduced following the prequalification process. After evaluation, 196 firms progressed to the next stages of the exercise before the final commercial bidding phase.
“From the close to 300 expressions of interest received, the prequalification process brought the number down to 196 companies. At the commercial bidding stage, 143 companies participated and submitted about 200 bids,” she stated.
The 2025 Licensing Round was launched in November 2025 in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021. It featured 50 oil and gas blocks located across seven sedimentary basins in Nigeria.
The assets offered included 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 return of the 13 unbid blocks means the assets will remain available for future licensing opportunities as the government continues efforts to attract investment into Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
