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The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has completed the pre-qualification stage of Nigeria’s 2025 oil and gas licensing round, allowing successful applicants to move to the next phase of the bidding process.
NUPRC said in a statement on Tuesday that the pre-qualification phase was finished on March 16, 2026, in accordance with the rules for the 2025 licencing round.
The statement, signed by the Head of Media and Strategic Communication, Eniola Akinkuotu, said companies that passed the screening stage have been formally notified.
According to the commission, only applicants that were pre-qualified will be allowed to access subsurface data required to prepare their bids.
“With the pre-qualification stage now completed, the Commission will from today, March 17, 2026, permit successful applicants to lease data in preparation for the technical and commercial bid submissions,” the statement said.
The regulator explained that pre-qualified applicants are mandated to lease data only from the two data sources (as applicable) and to upload evidence of payment as a prerequisite to submitting bids.
Nigeria’s 2025 oil and gas licensing round was launched in December 2025 after approval by President Bola Tinubu. The exercise aims to attract new investment into the country’s upstream petroleum sector.
The round offers 50 oil and gas blocks across several sedimentary basins, including the Niger Delta, Anambra Basin, Bida Basin, Benue Trough and Chad Basin.
The submission window for pre-qualification applications closed on February 27, 2026. Companies that passed the stage will now proceed to submit technical and commercial bids, which will be evaluated before the final award of oil blocks.
📢 Important update on the 2025 Licensing Round pic.twitter.com/p4GFOc6qMz
— NUPRC (@NUPRCofficial) March 17, 2026
