The federal government has announced plans to open the 2025 Licensing Round on December 1, 2025.
The Commission Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, made this known at the NUPRC’s Project 1 Million Barrels Per Day (MMBOPD) Additional Production Investment Forum in London on Tuesday.
This comes as the Minister of Petroleum Resources has issued marching orders on the utilisation of the ₦400 billion Frontier Exploration Fund, intensifying oversight on how the landmark fund is deployed in Nigeria’s upstream oil sector.
Komolafe added that the announcement was in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), following the approval of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who also serves as the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
“We are announcing that we are ready, following the approval of the Minister of Petroleum Resources in line with the Petroleum Industry Act, to commence the 2025 Licensing Round beginning from December 1, 2025,” the CCE said.
At the forum, which was attended by CEOs of oil companies, bank representatives, and potential investors, the NUPRC boss stated that funding remained the biggest challenge in Nigeria’s upstream sector. The Commission, as a business enabler, planned to tackle this by connecting interested parties.
He explained that the event was organised to bring all stakeholders together to make the additional one million barrels per day a reality.
“One of the factors that affected business was that activities were happening in silos, but the NUPRC now realises the need to bring everyone together,” the CCE said, adding, “We want you all to network. Bank of America is here, as well as representatives of other banks.”
Komolafe said reforms initiated by the Tinubu administration had improved Nigeria’s economic indicators.
He stated that crude production now averages 1.71 million barrels per day (BOPD), with a peak daily output of 1.83 million barrels, showing tangible progress.
The CCE disclosed that 46 Field Development Plans (FDPs) had been approved from January 2025 to date, representing immediate investment commitments and production growth potential.
Komolafe noted that the rig count had grown to over 60, of which at least 40 are active, adding that this was the best time for existing investors to deepen their stakes in Nigeria.
He added: “The drive to reach and sustain one million barrels per day in incremental capacity and beyond will require Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) units for cluster developments; Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) vessels for crude evacuation and storage; and a variety of Modular Offshore Production Units and Early Production Facilities to enable early production and accelerated monetisation. All these need investments, and the prospects are here in Nigeria.”
Recall that in 2024, the NUPRC opened an ambitious upstream licensing round aimed at revitalising Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. At launch, the regulator invited bids for 12 new blocks—onshore, continental shelf, and deep offshore—alongside seven deep-offshore blocks carried over from the 2022/23 mini-bid round, bringing the initial package to 19 blocks.
However, following the acquisition of additional subsurface data and a review of acreage, the NUPRC added 17 more deep-offshore blocks while withdrawing five blocks under litigation (PPL 3008, 3009, PML 51, PPL 267, PPL 268), resulting in a revised total of between 24 and 31 blocks on offer, depending on the counting method.
Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, assured investors that his Committee would not introduce legislation that could undermine investments.
Hon. Doguwa said the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 would not be tampered with arbitrarily.
“The House of Representatives reaffirms its commitment to the PIA and will resist any arbitrary changes that will undermine investments,” he said.
His counterpart in the Senate, Senator Eteng Williams, also assured investors that Nigeria’s legislature would continue to pass business-friendly laws and urged them not to fret.
Senator Enang commended Engineer Komolafe for being a business enabler.
In his speech, the chairman of the Governing Board of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Ademola Adeyemi Bero, said the petroleum industry remains critical to President Tinubu’s plan to transform Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy.
He therefore called on investors to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the Project 1MMBOPD Forum.
Minister Issues Marching Orders on Utilisation of Frontier Exploration Fund
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has directed the NUPRC and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to immediately deploy accruals from the 30 per cent Frontier Exploration Fund (FEF) towards financing new exploration projects in the industry.
Speaking at the 43rd Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), Lokpobiri explained that the PIA made provision for a 30 per cent Frontier Exploration Fund for the funding of oil exploration in as-yet-untapped petroleum basins, including the Chad, Dahomey, Anambra and other basins.
LEADERSHIP checks show that in its presentation to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in October, NNPC reported that it had accrued ₦400.667 billion from the Frontier Fund in the first nine months of 2025.
As prescribed by the Petroleum Industry Act, the fund is generated from 30 per cent of NNPC’s profit from oil and gas under the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) arrangements.
The fund, domiciled with the NUPRC, is managed by NNPC to finance exploration in frontier basins such as the Chad, Bida, Sokoto, Dahomey and Benue troughs. The ₦400.6 billion mobilised for that purpose so far is expected to support seismic and appraisal activities in those basins through the final quarter of the year.
Lokpobiri stated that since his assumption of office as minister two years ago, insufficient priority had been given to using the fund to finance exploration in basins that are yet to be fully explored. He stressed that those in charge of the fund must now be held accountable for deploying it as intended.
*“I know that under the PIA we have the Frontier Exploration Fund domiciled with NUPRC. That fund has to be used now for the purpose stated in the PIA. Since I became minister, we haven’t placed much premium on using the Frontier Exploration Fund to finance exploration in these largely unexplored basins.
“And so, we need to hold people accountable. Those responsible for this Frontier Exploration Fund will have to be held accountable to use these resources to finance members of NAPE to do the exploration that the money is meant for,”* Lokpobiri said.
He expressed concern that both International Oil Companies (IOCs) and indigenous independent companies were sitting on licences or acreages without undertaking exploration to increase Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves.
He said the current government had decided to implement the Drill or Drop provision of the PIA to flush out asset holders who were not optimising their licences and to hand such assets over to those with proven technical and financial capacity to invest in exploration and production.
*“Sometimes we should set sentiment aside and do what is best for this country. For those who haven’t shown capacity, why are they holding on to their licences? Even if you renew them for another ten years, they won’t do anything.
“But what you couldn’t achieve in the last ten years, you won’t achieve in three. You’ll only increase your woes. So, I’ve decided that, look, people may say whatever they want, but I’m also going to help you by not renewing your licences. That way, I can give those licences to those who have the capacity to invest in those fields for the benefit of Nigerians,”* he said.
The minister noted that President Bola Tinubu, who has prioritised energy security as one of the key pillars of his Renewed Hope Agenda, remains committed to creating an enabling environment for exploration in the nation’s frontier basins.
He said now is the best time for Nigeria to intensify exploration to secure its energy future and avoid potential crises.
Quoting projections from the International Energy Agency (IEA), Lokpobiri said the world must spend at least $540 billion annually to avoid an energy crisis by 2050.
Domestically, he added that analysts project Nigeria will become the third most populous country in the world by 2050, with a population of about 450 million, which will require significant energy to sustain.
*“If we can’t provide the energy needed for Nigerians today, you can imagine the problems that will arise. The economy can’t grow without energy security. That’s why I’m happy to be here with you today—to reaffirm that, as a government, we are committed to partnering with NAPE to ensure we do what is expected to increase exploration and deliver sufficient energy not just for Nigeria but for the rest of Africa.
“And I believe that we can achieve that by all of us committing to doing what is expected of us,” the minister said.
