The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says that the federal government has reduced the signature bonus for the 2025 petroleum licensing round to a range of $3 million to $7 million.
In a statement issued on Monday, the NUPRC stated in clear terms that any bidder who fails to submit a signature bonus within the specified range will be disqualified.
“The Nigerian government has graciously reduced the signature bonus to between $3 million and $7 million,” the statement reads. A signature bonus is a one-time payment made by oil companies to the government when signing an agreement as part of the award for an exploration or production license or lease. NUPRC also warned that all bidders must submit a bid within the approved range of $3 million to $7 million, as determined by the Minister of Petroleum, to lower entry barriers for participation in the licensing round.
The statement added that bids will be evaluated based on a scoring system that considers various criteria. The evaluation parameters include the signature bonus (as long as it falls within the prescribed limit), the proposed work program, and the unit cost per barrel in relation to the work program. Other factors that will be considered in the evaluation process include professionalism, human and technical capacity, the percentage of the bank guarantee provided, the entity’s balance sheet and turnover, the green initiatives, decarbonization programs, and the corporate governance structure. On December 1, the NUPRC officially announced the commencement of the 2025 petroleum licensing round, aiming to attract approximately $10 billion in new investments.
Recall that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), now mandated by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to hold a yearly licensing round, said 15 onshore blocks, 19 shallow water blocks, 15 frontier assets, and 1 deepwater block would be offered.
Announcing the move at a press event, Chief Executive of NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, said the development would expand investment, strengthen transparency, and deepen exploration in the upstream sector.
The Commission also launched the dedicated bid portal: br2025.nuprc.gov.ng. Komolafe said the 2022 Mini-Bid Round and the historic 2024 Licensing Round were conducted with unprecedented transparency, global competitiveness, and strong investor engagement.
According to him, the 2024 Licensing Round was completed without a single litigation, adding that with Presidential approval, the 2025 Licensing Round would boost Nigeria’s reserves, increasing production capacity, expanding gas utilisation, creating thousands of jobs across the value chain, and enhancing indigenous participation.
With reduced signature bonuses now hovering around N200 million to attract greater investment and participation, Komolafe said the NUPRC has undertaken extensive multi-client surveys to further de-risk exploration, while reprocessing thousands of kilometres of 2D and 3D seismic data to deliver the highest-quality subsurface imagery available in Africa.
