FG launches 2025 oil bid round, offers 50 blocks, targets $10bn investment and 400,000bpd output

By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja

The Federal Government on Monday unveiled 50 oil and gas blocks for bidding, aiming to attract $10 billion in fresh investments and add 400,000 barrels per day to national production. The government also targets 10 billion barrels of oil over the next decade.

Announcing the bid round in Abuja, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), said the blocks are spread across onshore, swamp/shallow water, and offshore terrains, comprising 15 offshore assets, 19 frontier acreages, and one deepwater block.

Komolafe noted that the Nigeria 2025 Licensing Round is designed to deepen exploration, grow reserves, boost government revenue, and create employment across host regions. “Core objectives include reserve growth, increased production capacity, and thousands of direct and indirect jobs spanning technical roles, logistics, supply chain, infrastructure, and local content services,” he said.

The bid round also aims to expand gas utilization in line with global energy transition trends, strengthen transparency under EITI principles, enhance indigenous participation, and contribute to long-term global energy security.

To attract investors, the government has reduced signature bonuses and taken steps to de-risk exploration. “Through extensive multi-client surveys, the NUPRC has reprocessed thousands of kilometres of 2D and 3D seismic data, producing sharper, higher-resolution images of our petroleum systems and reducing uncertainties that once hindered exploration decisions,” Komolafe explained.

Investors will benefit from higher-quality geophysical datasets, lower exploration risks, improved discovery probabilities, faster appraisal timelines, reduced entry costs, and quicker progression from licensing to first oil or gas.

Komolafe emphasized that the 2025 licensing round reflects President Bola Tinubu’s directive that Nigeria must not only be open for business but “irresistible for investment”, offering a more transparent, data-rich, and investor-friendly environment.

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