*Targets aggressive oil exploration,
By Abiodun Folarin
WorldStage– Nigeria’s push to deepen its oil and gas reserves while unlocking broader opportunities in gas utilisation and development gained fresh momentum on Tuesday, as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) concluded the pre-qualification stage of the 2025 Licensing Round.
The 2025 Licensing Round is aimed at achieving the government’s aspirations, in line with prevailing policies for the Nigerian petroleum industry, to grow oil and gas reserves through aggressive exploration and development efforts, increase Nigeria’s production capacity, and reinforce the country’s commitment to openness and transparency in line with the principles of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
NUPRC, in a statement on Tuesday by its spokesperson, Eniola Akinkuotu, said the exercise was conducted on March 16, 2026, in line with the 2025 Licensing Round Guidelines, and that successful bidders have been duly notified.
The statement read: “The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) wishes to inform the public that it has completed the pre-qualification stage of the 2025 Licensing Round and has notified successful pre-qualified applicants accordingly.
“This was done on March 16, 2026, in line with the 2025 Licensing Round Guidelines.
“With the pre-qualification stage now successfully completed, the Commission will, from today, March 17, 2026, permit successful applicants to lease data in preparation for the technical and commercial bid submissions.”
The Commission added that pre-qualified applicants are required to lease data only from the two approved data sources (as applicable) and upload evidence of payment as a prerequisite for the submission of bids.
