Abuja: 31 companies have emerged winners of 37 oil and gas blocks following a keenly contested bidding process at the 2025 Licensing Round held in Abuja. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) announced the successful bidders at the commercial bid conference held on Tuesday.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, a total of 143 companies submitted 200 bids for 37 out of the 50 oil and gas blocks originally put on offer. These blocks were drawn from various terrains, including the Niger Delta Onshore, Niger Delta Shallow Water, Niger Delta Deep Offshore, Benin Basin Onshore, Anambra Basin Onshore, Chad Basin Onshore, and Benue Trough Onshore. Of the 50 blocks on offer, 37 received bids, while no bids were submitted for the remaining 13.
The 37 blocks that attracted bids were drawn from all the terrains, including frontier basins such as the Benue Trough, Chad Basin, Anambra Basin, and the Benin Basin. This marks the first time in Nigeria’s energy history that frontier basins have attracted such a level of investor interest.
The companies that emerged winners of the 2025 Licensing Round include SSonic Petroleum Limited, CFP Pipeline and Flowlines, Dutchford EandP Limited, Attabanson Global Company Limited, Rosem Energy Limited, Pivot-GIS Limited, Network EandP, Asharami, LexOil, BVOF, Gupsco Energy Limited, Saratoga, Volante, Concept-Reel Petroleum Services Limited, and Clinton Oil Field. Other winners are Nuway Oaklane Limited, Ramec, Italia, Blueridge EandP, Up Energies Limited, AYM Shafa, Blackrock Holdings Limited, Funtay Integrated Business Limited, and Riparian Development and Production Limited. Additionally, Nikstallis, Stardeep Petroleum, Dakoda and U Limited, Southborne Oil and Gas Limited, Lanaka Petroleum, Highban Resources Limited, and Eyre Energy Limited also secured blocks.
In her remarks, Commission Chief Executive Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan stated that the firms would be presented final awards after the appropriate signature bonus payment and the approval of the Minister of Petroleum Resources. Eyesan emphasized that this process aligns with the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021. She expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for supporting the commission in delivering a seamless licensing round.
While congratulating the winners, she urged them to pay their signature bonuses promptly and develop their assets or risk losing them in accordance with the drill or drop provision enforced by the commission. The commercial bid conference was closely monitored by representatives from the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Nigeria Extractive Industry and Transparency Initiative (NEITI), and several other stakeholders in line with extant laws.