Frequently Asked Questions
The 8 broad objectives of the 2025 Licensing Round are:
I. To grow Nigeria's oil and gas reserves.
II. To enhance Nigerian content development.
III. To attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
IV. To contribute to a long-term global energy sufficiency.
V. To boost Nigeria's oil and gas production.
VI To expand the opportunity for gas utilization.
VII. To create job opportunities, and
VIII. To create value for the Nigerian government and investors.
The winners of this licensing round will be awarded a Petroleum Prospecting Licence (PPL).
The PPL confers the following rights to the holder:
I. Exclusive right to drill exploration and appraisal wells.
II. Non-exclusive right to carry out petroleum exploration operations within the area provided for in the licence.
III. Right to carry away and dispose of crude oil or natural gas won or extracted during the drilling of exploration or appraisal wells as a result of production tests.
IV. The Licence is for an initial duration of 3 years, with a possible extension of another 3 years for onshore and shallow waters. While it is 5 years for deep water and frontier.
There are 50 blocks covering the Onshore, Shallow Water, and Deep Offshore areas.
The blocks on offer are: 1. PPL 2A29; 2. PPL 2A30; 3. PPL 2A31; 4. PPL 2A32; 5. PPL 2A33; 6. PPL 2A34; 7. PPL 2A35; 8. PPL 2A36; 9. PPL 2A37; 10. PPL 2A38; 11. PPL 2A39; 12. PPL 2A40; 13. PPL 2A41; 14. PPL 2A42; 15. PPL 2A43; 16. PPL 2A44; 17. PPL 2A45; 18. PPL 2A46; 19. PPL 2A47; 20. PPL 2A48; 21. PPL 2A49; 22. PPL 2A50; 23. PPL 2A51; 24. PPL 2A52; 25. PPL 2A53; 26. PPL 2A54; 27. PPL 2A55; 28. PPL 2A56; 29. PPL 2A57; 30. PPL 2A58; 31. PPL 2A59; 32. PPL 2A60; 33. PPL 2A61; 34. PPL 2A62; 35. PPL 2010; 36. PPL 307; 37. PPL 308; 38. PPL 309; 39. PPL 900; 40. PPL 901; 41. PPL 902; 42. PPL 903; 43. PPL 700; 44. PPL 701; 45. PPL 702; 46. PPL 703; 47. PPL 800; 48. PPL 801; 49. PPL 802; 50. PPL 803;
For further information, please visit the licensing round portal.
The process will be concluded within an eight (8) month period. Beginning on the 17th of November 2025 and ending on 17th July 2026, after the commercial bid conference.
The licensing round process is broken down into five (5) main stages as follows:
I. Announcement/ Advertisement/Portal Launch
II. Registration/Prequalification
III. Technical and Commercial Bid Submission/Evaluation
IV. Commercial Bid Conference
V. Ministerial Approval/Contracting
The Commission has adopted a two-stage bidding process for the award of the Blocks. The Bidding Process shall comprise a qualification stage and a bid stage.
The qualification stage involves the submission and evaluation of applications by interested parties or consortia in accordance with the Regulation and the Guidelines.
Applicants shall provide all information required for this stage. Only applicants who are adjudged qualified and subsequently shortlisted by the Commission shall proceed to the Bid Stage, and will be required to execute a Confidentiality Agreement prior to participation.
At the bid stage, shortlisted applicants or bidders shall submit their Technical and Commercial Bids in accordance with the Regulation, the Guidelines, and any other bidding documents issued by the Commission.
The exercise is open and non-discriminatory to both local and foreign companies. A foreign company does not need to register in Nigeria to participate in the bid but the PPL shall only be awarded after such a company has been duly registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) as stipulated in the PIA.
An Applicant is ineligible or may be disqualified at any time, on the following grounds, if it or any of its members:
I. Is indebted to the Government;
II. Has not operated a previously awarded licence or lease vigorously and in a business-like manner in accordance with Applicable Laws;
III. Is or becomes Insolvent
IV. Has not or does not comply with Applicable Laws; etc
V. An exhaustive list of the grounds for ineligibility is contained in the 2025 Licensing Round Guidelines on the portal.
The mandatory documents required include the following:
I. Incorporation documents.
II. Consortium Agreement in case of companies applying as a consortium.
III. Profiles of the Company’s Promoters/Management Team.
IV. Tax Clearance Certificate for the past three years, where applicable.
V. Evidence of financial capacity and technical competence.
The two(2) major considerations are:
I. Technical Competence in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry and
II. Financial viability and capacity as highlighted in paragraph 13.2 of the 2025 Licensing Round Guidelines
The applicant’s Technical Competence will be evaluated using work experience across the under-listed work areas:
I. Geological and geophysical capabilities
II. Drilling and well engineering
III. Reservoir evaluation and management
IV. Production engineering and technology
V. Development planning
VI. Facilities engineering and management
All Bidders shall be required to submit a bid within a range of $3 million and $7 million as approved by the minister of petroleum for the reduction of entry barriers.
Bids submitted below the Prescribed Range shall be deemed non- compliant and shall not be evaluated.
It is a score based approach, taking into consideration the following parameters:
• Signature bonus (provided it is within the prescribed limit),
• Work programme
• Unit cost per barrel with reference to the work programme
• Professionalism, human and technical capacity
• Percentage of bank guarantee made available
• Balance sheet
• Turnover
• Green story and decarbonisation programme
• Corporate governance structure
Where two or more Bidders submit matching highest bids for a Block within the Prescribed Range (“Competing Bids”), such bids shall be subject to a Tie-Breaking Process. The sole Tie-Breaking Process shall be the submission of a sealed re-bid of the signature bonus, which may be higher than the Prescribed Range.
The minimum financial requirement for an entity to participate in the licensing round includes the following:
I. Average annual turnover of USD$100,000,000.00 for Deep Offshore blocks and USD$40, 000,000 for onshore and shallow water blocks or
II. minimum Cash in bank of USD$100,000,000.00 for deep offshore blocks and USD$40,000,000.00 for onshore and shallow water blocks or
III. Bank Guarantee to the tune of USD$100,000,000.00 for Deep offshore, USD$40,000,000.00 for onshore, and shallow water blocks or
IV. For newly incorporated companies, a parent company guarantee to the tune of USD$100,000,000.00 in deep offshore, USD$40,000,000.00 in onshore and shallow water.
No bidder, whether participating individually or as a member of any consortium, shall submit applications for more than two (2) assets in total across all applications. Participation in more than one consortium shall count towards this limit. For the avoidance of doubt, where a company has equity, direct or indirect ownership, or management involvement in multiple consortium vehicles, all such applications shall be aggregated and treated as a single bidder’s applications.
No, the registration fee is non-refundable.
It is an automated process, and the portal will be inaccessible once the portal is closed
No. The designated signature bonus account is United States dollar- denominated.
A newly registered company, consortium or special purpose vehicle can participate in the 2025 licensing round, provided its shareholders, or consortium members (as applicable) meets the pre-qualification criteria.