NUPRC announces 2025 oil licensing round

The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, has announced that there will be another oil licensing bid round in 2025.

Komolafe made the announcement on Wednesday at the 2024 Licensing Round Commercial Bid Conference in Lagos.

As the commission moves towards the end of the 2024 licensing round, he mentioned that the commission decided to make licensing rounds an annual exercise to boost oil production.

Komolafe said the 2025 exercise would focus on unexplored assets, noting that as everyone is proud of their recent achievements as industry stakeholders, they must remain mindful of the challenges ahead.

He emphasised that declined production levels and failed global competition demand strategic action as the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has given a unique opportunity to transform the industry, attract investments and position Nigeria at the forefront.

“To this end, I am pleased to announce that the NUPRC will launch another licensing round in the year 2025. Building on the lessons learned from this year’s round, the 2025 exercise will focus on discovered and undeveloped fields, fallow assets and prioritise natural gas development to support
Nigeria’s commitment to UN Sustainable Development Goals,” he announced.

He added that the regulator’s commitment has been to restore investors’ confidence in the industry, saying this it has done diligently by ensuring that its activities are in alignment with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act.

“What we are doing here today is not a matter of discretion by the commission or the statutory provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act. The statutory provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act provide that the commission should conduct licensing rounds.

“The law did not make it annual, but to ensure that we grow, preserve and optimise our hydrocarbon resources, like I said, we are committed to annual licensing rounds. And that’s why I said that at the conclusion of this (2024) exercise, we will commence another one in 2025,” he emphasised.

The NUPRC boss added that it has started the recovery of idle assets based on the ’drill or drop’ provision of the Petroleum Industry Act.

“There is a provision in the Petroleum Industry Act that speaks to ‘drill or drop’. So, we have been having engagements with the industry to ensure that unexplored areas and resources are harvested back into the basket; and we have done this. We intend to rebuild those idle assets, because a lot of our assets remain idle, and that is not the intent of the Petroleum Industry Act.

“So as a commission and as a regulator, we have started activating the drill or drop provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, which is intended to ensure that our assets do not just remain idle. So, we are harvesting them into the basket, and we will ensure that they go for bidding to interested bidders in the next licensing round,” he stated.