NUPRC May Hold Twice-Yearly Licensing Rounds to Lift Oil Output

Nigeria’s upstream regulator is considering twice-yearly oil licensing rounds as it seeks to speed up investment, bring new operators into the industry and raise crude production to 4 million barrels per day within 10 years.

Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, said the regulator wanted a faster and more predictable process. Bid rounds could take place annually, or even twice a year, with future licensing exercises completed within six to seven months.

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These will be annual, if possible, even twice-annual events. At a minimum, we’ll be going to the market on an annual basis

That would mark a major shift from Nigeria’s previous system, when five to 10 years could pass without a licensing round before the 2021 Petroleum Industry Act. Since then, the scale and frequency of auctions have increased. Seven blocks were offered in the 2022/2023 mini bid round, 19 in 2024 and 50 assets in the 2025 round.

The latest exercise covered assets in the Niger Delta, the Benin and Anambra basins, and the Chad Basin. It awarded 37 of the 50 licences offered. Eyesan said those assets were expected to provide about 300,000 barrels per day of additional production within their first three years. The commission is targeting 300,000 to 600,000 barrels per day from successive licensing rounds.

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I knew we were going to have a problem with some of the blocks

Officials are preparing the next round, which is expected to begin by early October. It could include the 13 blocks left unawarded in the previous process, along with deepwater and shallow-water assets and possibly frontier onshore basins. Eyesan said the regulator would apply stricter criteria and offer only commercially viable blocks, acknowledging that it had “taken a gamble” by including some assets before they were ready.

The commission also wants to encourage a new generation of Nigerian operators after several international oil companies withdrew from onshore and shallow-water assets. Eyesan said the next round would not primarily target major industry players and pointed to Renaissance and First E&P as examples of emerging indigenous companies.

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taken a gamble