NUPRC launches 2026 licensing round with 40 oil and gas blocks

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has launched its 2026 licensing round, offering investors 40 oil and gas blocks across onshore, shallow-water and deep-water areas.

NUPRC chief executive Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan said bidders must have the technical competence and financial capacity to develop the assets. Details of the blocks, qualification requirements and participation procedures will be published on the commission’s website and licensing portal in the coming days.

Eyesan announced the round at the commission’s fifth-anniversary ceremony in Abuja on Tuesday. Premium Times reported that NUPRC issued a statement on Wednesday quoting her announcement, which followed President Bola Tinubu’s approval.

The guidelines will disclose the evaluation methodology, provide fuller publication of bidding results and require bidders to identify their beneficial owners. Eyesan said these measures reflected recommendations from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

The announcement follows the 2025 round, in which 31 companies won 37 blocks. NaijaTrend reported those awards and the payment obligations placed on winners here.

Premium Times reported that 143 companies submitted about 200 bids for 37 of the 50 blocks offered in the previous round. The other 13 attracted no offers.

Eyesan also outlined the commission’s production priorities: restoring more than 788,000 barrels per day of shut-in production identified across 63 operators, advancing offshore projects valued at an estimated $30 billion to $50 billion towards final investment decisions, and increasing domestic gas deliveries from about two-thirds of the required obligation to full delivery.

Those figures describe the regulator’s targets and identified opportunities, not production already restored or investment already secured.

Sources: Channels Television, Premium Times