Sopuruchi Onwuka

Nigeria’s upstream oil regulator, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), says it is strengthening the procedures for the 2025 oil licensing bid round to ensure that only serious investors ready to carry out exploration activities are awarded oil blocks.

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The Commission’s Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed this in a statement while hosting the management of the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

Eyesan said investors participating in the ongoing licensing round must be prepared to implement their work programs, stressing that the era of companies holding oil prospecting licenses for years without conducting exploration work is over.

She explained that Section 94 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) requires operators to either begin exploration activities or relinquish their licences.

According to her, enforcing this “drill or drop” provision has already begun attracting more serious investors to the current licensing round and is expected to boost Nigeria’s petroleum reserves.

“The PIA has also opened opportunities for both small and big players because there is now a drill-or-drop provision in the Act. We have addressed the uncertainties that existed in the past,” Eyesan said.

She noted that in the past, some operators held licenses for up to 20 years without carrying out any exploration activities.

“Now we have moved from that era to drill or drop. As a result, more assets have returned to the basket, giving us the momentum to conduct licensing rounds more frequently, possibly even annually,” she added.

Eyesan expressed satisfaction with the level of interest shown by investors in the 2025 bid round. She revealed that 50 oil blocks are currently on offer, and the number of pre-qualification submissions indicates strong investor appetite.

However, she emphasized that the licensing guidelines limit companies to bidding for a maximum of two blocks, whether individually or as part of a consortium.

To strengthen transparency in the process, the NUPRC has also engaged an independent audit firm to review and validate the bidding system.

“The outcome of that validation exercise will be made public to further boost investor confidence,” Eyesan said.

During the visit, the Director-General of the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone, Foday Mansaray, said his delegation came to learn from Nigeria’s experience in managing its petroleum sector.

Mansaray also called for stronger energy cooperation between Sierra Leone and Nigeria, expressing interest in signing a Memorandum of Understanding to deepen collaboration.

“We are here to collaborate with the NUPRC at a bilateral level and learn from Nigeria, our big brothers in the industry,” he said.

“We are a small country of just eight million people, but we are very ambitious.”