By Opeyemi Adelakun
The Federal Government has declared that financial muscle alone will not determine winners in Nigeria’s ongoing 2025 oil licensing round, stressing that only firms with proven technical competence and operational capacity will be considered for petroleum asset awards.
The assurance was given on Tuesday by the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, during the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference in Abuja, where the commission commenced the opening of commercial bids submitted by qualified investors.
Eyesan said the licensing process was deliberately structured to ensure that Nigeria’s oil and gas assets are allocated to companies capable of developing them efficiently over the long term, rather than those offering the highest financial bids.
According to her, the commission adopted a transparent and objective evaluation process that prioritised competence alongside financial capability.
“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 stated.
She explained that bidders were assessed using several parameters, including industry experience, organisational strength, operational capability, work programme credibility, commitment of resources and project delivery timelines.
The NUPRC boss also dismissed claims that commercial bids had been compromised before the official opening, insisting the exercise remained credible and transparent.
“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.
Tuesday’s commercial bid opening marks the final stage of the 2025 Licensing Round before the announcement of successful applicants.
The licensing exercise, launched on November 11, 2025, under the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, offers 50 oil and gas blocks spread across seven sedimentary basins. The assets include 16 onshore Niger Delta blocks, 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. Registration and prequalification ended on February 27, with the screening process completed on March 16.
Under the commission’s licensing framework, successful bidders will emerge through a weighted assessment that combines technical and commercial performance, including signature bonus commitments, proposed work programmes and performance security, instead of relying solely on the highest financial offer.
The NUPRC said the framework is designed to ensure Nigeria’s petroleum resources are entrusted to investors with the financial strength, technical expertise and operational capacity required to accelerate oil and gas exploration and production.
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