The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) will open its bidding portal for the 2026 oil and gas licensing round on November 20, as Nigeria intensifies efforts to attract investment into its upstream petroleum sector.
The Commission Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, announced the date while wooing investors at the 2026 Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
The licensing round offers 40 oil and gas blocks across different terrains, with the commission seeking investors with the technical capacity and financial resources to develop the country’s petroleum assets.
Speaking during a roundtable discussion titled, ‘Energy Sovereignty in an Interconnected World: Aligning National Priorities, Markets and Global Security’, Eyesan said Nigeria was positioning itself as a competitive destination for investment amid growing global competition for capital.
“We are expecting investors to turn to Nigeria. We are going in for another licensing round and we will be launching our bid portal on November 20. We expect to see interested investors because the environment is a lot more competitive,” she said.
Eyesan said the commission had introduced an attractive fiscal framework, improved security and incentives to reduce operating costs for investors.
She added that the country’s investment climate had improved following the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021 and executive orders issued by President Bola Tinubu.
According to her, the regulatory changes have made licensing more regular and predictable, representing a departure from the period before the PIA when licensing rounds were less frequent.
Eyesan said the commission had conducted at least four successful licensing rounds between 2021 and 2026, bringing additional investment opportunities into the sector.
She noted that Nigeria’s gas resources remained largely untapped, with the country holding about 215 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves but producing approximately seven billion cubic feet daily.
The NUPRC chief said the gap between available reserves and production presented opportunities for investors, particularly with major gas infrastructure projects expected to improve supply and transportation.
She cited the Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic Gas Pipeline and Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline as proposed projects that could expand gas delivery to domestic and regional markets, as well as Europe.
Eyesan said Nigeria was taking steps to address risks that investors consider when making investment decisions, including project delays, costs and uncertainty.
“We understand that investors will prize execution risk, cost, delays and also uncertainty and so what we have done in Nigeria is to ensure that we guard against these risks and then attract the investment required to enable us unlock the huge resources we sit on,” she said.
The 2026 licensing round is part of Nigeria’s broader efforts to attract fresh capital, develop its petroleum resources and increase oil and gas production.
