The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says the 2025 oil block licensing bid round will commence by December 1.
Gbenga Komolafe, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the NUPRC, announced the exercise at the NUPRC’s ‘Project 1MMBOPD Additional Production Investment’ forum in London on Tuesday.
Komolafe said the announcement was in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), following approval by President Bola Tinubu, who doubles as the minister of petroleum resources.
“We are announcing that we are ready under the approval of the Minister of Petroleum Resources in line with the PIA to commence the 2025 licensing round beginning from December 1, 2025,” he said.
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The NUPRC boss noted that funding continues to be the greatest challenge in Nigeria’s upstream sector.
Komolafe said the commission, as a business enabler, aims to address financing bottlenecks by facilitating connections among interested parties.
He said the event was organised to bring together all stakeholders to help realise the goal of an additional one million barrels.
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“One of the factors that affected business is that activities were happening in silos but the NUPRC now realises the need to bring everyone together,” Komolafe said.
On December 18, the NUPRC announced plans to launch the oil block licensing bid round in 2025, focusing on undeveloped fields.
Heineken Lokpobiri, the minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), recently warned that oil licences held by firms without visible exploration activities would no longer be renewed.
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