BY NSE ANTHONY-UKO, Abuja AND CHIKA IZUORA, Lagos The federal government is expecting to earn between $111m`and $259 million in signature bonuses from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s 2025 Licensing Round, after 31 companies emerged winners of 37 oil and gas blocks in the exercise. The estimate is based on the disclosed signature bonus range of $3 million to $7 million per block, set by the Minister of Petroleum to lower entry barriers and widen participation. While the exact amount to be paid on each block has not been published, the government’s potential take falls within that band. The bid round results announced by the NUPRC on Tuesday, showed that the winning companies and assets are: 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 blocks are spread across the Niger Delta onshore, shallow-water and deep-offshore areas, as well as frontier basins, including the Benin Basin, Anambra Basin, Chad Basin, and Benue Trough. NUPRC said 143 companies submitted 200 bids for the 37 blocks that eventually attracted offers. A striking feature of the round is the largely indigenous nature of the winners. Publicly available information and the reporting trail suggested that most of the successful bidders are Nigerian-owned or Nigeria-based firms, while major international oil companies such as Shell, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, Eni and Equinor were absent from the final winners’ list. Recall that Eyesan had said the licensing round was designed to attract both local and foreign investors. She said the licensing exercise was not merely a bidding process but a signal of an upstream sector reimagined, open to capable investors with the technical and financial strength to develop assets. She stressed that the process was transparent, competitive and aligned with the Petroleum Industry Act, and that only bidders who meet post-award conditions would receive final awards. Eyesan said the awards would only be final after payment of the applicable signature bonuses, first-year rent, guarantees and ministerial approval. Commenting on the opportunities ahead after the exercise, energy industry executive and strategic adviser Sola Adebawo, said the real significance of the recently concluded NUPRC licensing round extends beyond the award of oil and gas blocks. According to him, it is an important test of Nigeria’s ability to convert its geological potential into commercially viable production at a time when global upstream investment capital is becoming increasingly disciplined, selective and competitive across multiple jurisdictions. “Against this backdrop, every licensing round must do more than allocate acreage. It must demonstrate that Nigeria can offer regulatory certainty, commercial competitiveness and project economics capable of attracting long-term investment. Ultimately, the success of this exercise will be measured not by the number of licences awarded, but by how many of those licences become producing assets that contribute meaningfully to national production, investment, employment and government revenue.” Adebawo, an energy industry executive and strategic advisor and the Chief Executive Officer of Hyphen Partners Limited, said the opportunities of the exercise are potentially significant, provided the licence holders move swiftly from acquisition to execution. He said, “It is important to distinguish between a licensing exercise and field development. Winning a licence is essentially an allocation decision.” He, however, stated that developing a field is an investment and execution decision, adding “Between those two points lie geological evaluation, exploration and appraisal activities, financing, environmental approvals, host community engagement, engineering design, drilling programmes, infrastructure development, regulatory compliance and ultimately commercial production.” He explained that at each stage of this value chain creates opportunities for indigenous service providers across a broad range of disciplines, including: Geological and geophysical se
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