By Abiodun Folarin
WorldStage– The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) will on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, hold the Commercial Bid Conference for the 2025 Licensing Round, marking a key milestone in the allocation of 50 oil and gas blocks across the country’s major hydrocarbon basins.
The Commission said only companies that successfully scaled the transparent and rigorous prequalification process have been invited to participate in the conference, which will take place at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
According to a statement issued on Monday by the Head of Media and Corporate Communications, Mr. Eniola Akinkuotu, attendance at the Commercial Bid Conference is strictly by invitation.
He said, “The licensing round covers 50 oil and gas blocks spread across seven basins, comprising 16 onshore blocks in the Niger Delta, 18 shallow water blocks, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin and four in the Benue Trough.
The Commission explained that the commercial evaluation will be based on key bid parameters, including signature bonus, work programme commitments and performance security commitments. These will be combined with the technical assessment to produce a weighted score that will determine the successful bidders.
The 2025 Licensing Round was officially launched on November 11, 2025, in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021, while the bid portal opened on December 1, 2025, for registration.
A pre-bid conference was subsequently held on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos, to familiarise prospective investors and stakeholders with the bid process and licensing guidelines.
The registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification exercise was concluded on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies submitted applications for prequalification, out of which 196 met the requirements to proceed to the technical and commercial bidding stage.
“Of the prequalified firms, 143 companies eventually submitted 200 bids and are expected to participate in Tuesday’s commercial bid conference, where winners will emerge based on the Commission’s evaluation criteria”, he said.
