By Abiodun Folarin
WorldStage– After a keenly contested bidding process, 31 companies have emerged as winners of 37 oil and gas blocks in the 2025 Licensing Round.
They have been urged to pay their signature bonuses promptly and commence the development of their assets without delay or risk losing them under the Commission’s “drill or drop” policy
A total of 143 companies submitted 200 bids for 37 of the 50 oil and gas blocks originally offered.
The winners emerged on Tuesday in Abuja following a transparent and competitive bidding exercise held at the Transcorp Event Centre.
The blocks were drawn from diverse terrains, including the Niger Delta Onshore (16), Niger Delta Shallow Water (18), Niger Delta Deep Offshore (1), Benin Basin Onshore (3), Anambra Basin Onshore (4), Chad Basin Onshore (4), and Benue Trough (4).
Of the 50 blocks offered, 37 attracted bids, while no bids were submitted for the remaining 13. The 37 blocks that received bids were spread across all the terrains, including the frontier basins of the Benue Trough, Chad Basin, Anambra Basin, and Benin Basin.
This marks the first time in Nigeria’s energy history that frontier basins have attracted such a high level of investor interest.
The companies that emerged as winners of the 2025 Licensing Round include: SSonic Petroleum Limited (PPL 2A29), CFP Pipeline and Flowlines (2A30), Dutchford E&P Limited (2A32), Attabanson Global Company Limited (2A33 and PPL 901), Rosem Energy Limited (2A38), Pivot-GIS Limited (2A39), Network E&P (2A40), Asharami (2A41), LexOil (2A42), BVOF (2A43), Gupsco Energy Limited (2A44 and 2A51), Saratoga (2A45), Volante (2A46), Concept-Reel Petroleum Services Limited (2A47 and 2A55), Clinton Oil Field (2A48 and 2A62), and Nuway Oaklane Limited (2A49).
Others are Ramec (2A50), Italia (2A53), Blueridge E&P (2A54), Up Energies Limited (2A56), AYM Shafa (2A57), Blackrock Holdings Limited (2A58), Funtay Integrated Business Limited (2A59), Riparian Development and Production Limited (2A60), Nikstallis (2A61 and PPL 900), Stardeep Petroleum (PPL 2010), Dakoda & U Limited (PPL 308 and PPL 800), Southborne Oil and Gas Limited (PPL 902), Lanaka Petroleum (PPL 903), Highban Resources Limited (PPL 700), and Eyre Energy Limited (PPL 801).
The successful bidders will only be presented with their final awards after paying the applicable signature bonuses and obtaining the approval of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.
In her remarks, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Chief Executive, Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for supporting the Commission in delivering a seamless licensing round.
While congratulating the successful bidders, Eyesan urged them to pay their signature bonuses promptly and commence the development of their assets without delay or risk losing them under the Commission’s “drill or drop” policy.
The commercial bid conference was closely monitored by representatives of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), and several other stakeholders, in line with extant laws.
