The Nigerian government has announced that 13 of the 50 oil and gas blocks offered under the 2025 Licensing Round will be returned to the licensing pool after failing to attract bids from investors.
Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed this on Tuesday during the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference in Abuja.
She said that although 50 blocks were offered, only 37 received bids from prospective investors.
“At the end of the exercise, we had 50 blocks on offer, but only 37 received representations. The remaining 13 blocks will return to the licensing basket,” Eyesan said.
She revealed that 143 companies submitted about 200 bids during the exercise, describing the level of participation as encouraging.
According to her, nearly 300 companies initially expressed interest in the licensing round before the prequalification process reduced the number to 196, with 143 firms eventually progressing to the commercial bid stage.
The 2025 Licensing Round, announced in November 2025 under the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, offered 50 oil and gas blocks across seven sedimentary basins, including the Niger Delta, Benin, Anambra, Chad and Benue basins.
The bidding process, which began in December 2025, is based on a weighted assessment of signature bonus commitments, proposed work programmes and performance guarantees to ensure qualified investors secure the assets and accelerate upstream oil and gas development.