Nigeria's NUPRC outlines disqualification risks for 2025 oil licensing round

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has outlined several compliance and governance risks that could disqualify applicants from the country’s 2025 oil licensing round, as the regulator moves to tighten due diligence standards across the upstream sector.

Nigeria launched the licensing round on December 1, offering 50 blocks.  It aims to unlock Nigeria’s undeveloped and dormant oil and gas fields, with a particular focus on gas-rich assets that can advance the country’s energy transition objectives.

The federal government is targeting $10bn in new upstream investment and aims, according to NUPRC projections, to raise national output by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd). The country currently produces around 1.3mn–1.4mn bpd, according to recent OPEC data.

In a new advisory, NUPRC said bidders risk exclusion if they fail to meet minimum technical, financial or environmental criteria, or if they provide incomplete or misleading information during prequalification. The commission added that transparency, beneficial-ownership disclosure and demonstrable operational capacity remain mandatory thresholds.

NUPRC highlighted that companies with unresolved legacy debts, outstanding statutory payments or a history of licence-term breaches would face enhanced scrutiny. Firms linked to significant environmental infractions, pipeline-security lapses or community-relations failures may also be deemed non-compliant.

The regulator further warned that entities under international sanctions, or those unable to prove lawful funding sources, will not be cleared to participate. Adherence to Nigeria’s anti-corruption, local-content and upstream-governance frameworks forms a core part of the assessment.

NUPRC said the new oil licensing round forms part of a multi-year reform effort under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to reposition the upstream sector through transparent bidding, strengthened fiscal clarity and improved data availability.

According to the regulator, the stricter rules aim to ensure that only “fit-for-purpose and credible” investors secure acreage in the upcoming round, which is expected to include deepwater, frontier and mature onshore/shallow-water blocks. The commission said it intends to accelerate project delivery and reduce dormant acreage by enforcing performance-based obligations.

Licensing rounds have long formed a key pillar of Nigeria’s oil and gas investment drive, with major rounds held in 2000, 2005 and 2007, followed by targeted exercises for marginal fields and deepwater blocks. Many awarded blocks have, however, struggled to progress owing to technical, financial and regulatory hurdles.

In December 2024, the Federal Government concluded its first licensing round under the PIA 2021, awarding Petroleum Prospecting Licences (PPLs) to several indigenous companies for onshore and offshore exploration.

Allegations of irregularities during that round were later dismissed by the NUPRC, which said the process was fully compliant with the PIA and conducted transparently using encrypted digital systems. Results were announced live in the presence of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and senior government officials.