The Federal Government has opened bidding for 40 oil blocks across land, shallow water and deepwater terrains, with new rules requiring investors to disclose their beneficial owners.
The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), has commenced the 2026 oil licensing round, offering 40 blocks to investors. The NUPRC Chief Executive Officer, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, announced the commencement of the bidding during the commission’s fifth anniversary celebration on Tuesday.
She said the blocks cover land, shallow water and deepwater terrains and are open to investors with the required technical competence, financial capacity and commitment to developing Nigeria’s petroleum resources.
Eyesan said the 2026 bidding guidelines would require all bidders to disclose their beneficial owners, while the evaluation methodology and results would be published more extensively.
According to her, the licensing round followed approval from President Bola Tinubu and the Minister of Petroleum Resources. She said the commission was committed to making the process transparent and predictable, noting that competition for upstream investment was becoming increasingly intense globally.
The announcement comes after the conclusion of the 2025 licensing round, which attracted 200 bids from 143 companies. The NUPRC said 31 companies emerged as winners of 37 blocks from that exercise.
The commission also said the 2025 round recorded growing investor interest in frontier basins outside the traditional Niger Delta producing areas, including the Anambra Basin, Benue Trough, Chad Basin and Benin Basin.
Since the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) came into force in 2021, the NUPRC said it had conducted three licensing exercises: the 2022 Deep Offshore Mini Bid Round, the 2024 Nigerian Licensing Round and the 2025 Nigerian Licensing Round. The exercises resulted in the award of 57 Petroleum Prospecting Licences.
Eyesan said lessons from previous licensing rounds, including recommendations from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), would be incorporated into the 2026 exercise. She said NEITI’s review of the 2022–2024 licensing rounds found the process generally professional, transparent and inclusive, while identifying areas for improvement in evaluation methodology, disclosure of results, public access to bidding information and beneficial ownership disclosure.
The NUPRC boss said the commission had accepted the recommendations and would implement them in the new licensing round. Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who represented President Tinubu at the anniversary event, said Nigeria’s oil acreages were now being awarded through open and competitive processes.
Shettima said the reforms had demonstrated that investors could secure upstream assets without relying on political connections. He also said the Federal Government remained committed to making Nigeria a destination of choice for long-term hydrocarbon investment through clearer terms, compliance and accountability.
According to him, the PIA had helped end years of uncertainty in the sector by establishing clearer rules for investors and giving host communities a greater stake in petroleum-producing areas. Shettima added that the government was working to address the high cost and lengthy contracting processes that had previously discouraged investment in the sector.
He, however, warned that companies benefiting from government incentives would be expected to fulfil their commitments on work programmes, local content, environmental protection and host communities.