The Federal Government has opened Nigeria’s 2026 oil and gas licensing round, putting 40 blocks across onshore, shallow-water and deepwater areas up for competition by local and international investors.

The Commission Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, announced the opening in Abuja on Wednesday during activities marking the commission’s fifth anniversary.

Eyesan said the licensing round had received approval from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who also serves as Minister of Petroleum Resources.

NUPRC introduces tighter transparency requirements

The NUPRC chief said prospective investors would be required to disclose their beneficial ownership as part of the bidding process.

She also said the commission would publish the complete evaluation results, a move aimed at strengthening transparency and investor confidence in the allocation of Nigeria’s petroleum assets.

According to Eyesan, Nigeria must make its upstream sector increasingly competitive as countries compete aggressively for a limited pool of international capital.

“Competition for upstream capital is fierce. Investors go where rules are clear, processes are predictable and data can be trusted,” she said.

The commission is also positioning the licensing round as part of a broader effort to make access to Nigerian acreage more predictable.

NUPRC has previously said licensing rounds are becoming a recurring feature of Nigeria’s upstream petroleum administration under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, rather than occasional exercises.

40 blocks offered across different terrains

The 2026 offering covers acreage across three major petroleum environments: land/onshore, shallow water, deepwater

The regulator says the opportunity is open to investors with the necessary technical capability, financial strength and commitment to developing the assets.

The move follows the 2025 licensing round, in which 31 companies emerged as successful bidders for 37 oil and gas blocks after a technology-enabled evaluation process.

NUPRC had previously indicated that the 2026 exercise would include acreage from different parts of the country and that the commission intended to make licensing rounds more regular.

Nigeria wants more upstream investment

The latest auction is part of the Federal Government’s wider effort to attract fresh investment into exploration and production.

NUPRC has said Nigeria wants to increase crude production substantially over the coming years, while developing additional deepwater projects.

The regulator also expects its licensing programme to help replenish reserves and maintain a pipeline of exploration opportunities.

In September, Indonesia’s state-owned oil company Pertamina indicated interest in Nigeria’s upcoming licensing round, according to NUPRC. Pertamina said it was looking beyond Indonesia for upstream opportunities, including in Nigeria.

New fiscal incentives target deepwater investment

The licensing round comes against the backdrop of new government efforts to make Nigeria’s deepwater sector more attractive to investors.

NUPRC has said the Deep Offshore Oil and Gas Project Incentives (Tax Remission) Executive Order 2026 could unlock significant new offshore investment and support the country’s production ambitions.

Eyesan has also said Nigeria is targeting substantial investment in a pipeline of deepwater projects through 2030.

Lessons from the previous licensing round

The 2026 exercise will also be watched closely because of scrutiny surrounding the previous licensing round.

The 2025 process attracted hundreds of interested companies, with the NUPRC saying about 300 companies showed interest in 50 available assets.

After evaluation, 31 companies were announced as successful bidders for 37 blocks.

Independent commentary has nevertheless stressed that transparency in the allocation of strategic petroleum assets will ultimately depend not only on published results but also on whether the underlying criteria, ownership information and evaluation process can withstand public scrutiny.

That makes the NUPRC’s commitment to publish evaluation results particularly important for the 2026 exercise.

What is a licensing round?

An oil and gas licensing round is a competitive process through which a government or petroleum regulator makes specified acreage available to qualified companies.

Interested companies normally undergo prequalification, obtain access to geological and technical data, submit bids and undergo technical and commercial evaluation.

Successful bidders then proceed to the relevant contractual and regulatory stages before developing the awarded assets.

The NUPRC’s previous licensing framework included technical and commercial evaluation stages and required successful bidders to meet applicable regulatory and contractual conditions.