FG Returns 13 Unclaimed Oil Blocks to Licensing Pool
The Federal Government has announced that 13 of the 50 oil and gas blocks offered during the 2025 Licensing Round will be returned to the licensing pool after failing to attract investor bids.
The disclosure was made in Abuja during the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference by the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan.
According to Eyesan, while 50 blocks were made available, only 37 received bids from prospective investors, leaving 13 without any interest.
She revealed that 143 companies participated in the commercial bidding process, submitting about 200 bids for the available assets. Eyesan described the response as encouraging, noting that nearly 300 companies initially expressed interest in the licensing exercise before the prequalification process narrowed the field.
She explained that the number of interested firms dropped to 196 after prequalification, with 143 eventually advancing to the commercial bidding stage.
The 2025 Licensing Round, launched under the Petroleum Industry Act, offered oil and gas assets across seven sedimentary basins, including onshore, shallow water, deep offshore and inland frontier locations.
Authorities said the evaluation process goes beyond financial offers, with winning bids determined through a combination of signature bonus commitments, proposed work programmes and technical capability.
The government said the approach is aimed at ensuring that only qualified investors with the financial capacity and operational expertise are awarded petroleum assets to boost exploration and production in Nigeria's upstream oil and gas sector.
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