NUPRC Sets Cut-Off Date For Oil Block Applications

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has announced that registration and submission of pre-qualification applications for the Nigeria 2025 Licensing Round will close at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, February 27.

In a statement signed by its management, the commission said the notice was issued in line with Section 11.2 of the Licensing Round Guidelines.

It urged all prospective applicants to ensure strict compliance with the stipulated submission requirements within the prescribed deadline.

The commission had officially flagged off the Nigeria 2025 Licensing Round on December 1, 2025, as part of the Federal Government’s efforts to boost investment and reposition the country’s upstream petroleum sector for growth.

According to the regulator, the 2025 bid round offers a total of 50 oil and gas blocks.

These include 15 onshore blocks, 19 in shallow waters, 15 frontier acreages, and one deep offshore block. The initiative is aimed at increasing the nation’s hydrocarbon reserves, ramping up production, and accelerating gas development.

The commission projected that the exercise could attract between $10bn and $15bn in investment and potentially add up to two billion barrels to Nigeria’s oil reserves over the next decade.

It noted that the expected inflow of capital would also support job creation, enhance production capacity, and contribute to naira stability.

The regulator further explained that the 2025 licensing round is expected to run for approximately six months and will adopt a two-stage bidding process.

The process will consist of a qualification stage, where applicants will be screened, followed by a bid stage for the eventual award of the blocks.