The Federal Government has opened the 2026 oil licensing round, putting 40 oil blocks across land, shallow water and deepwater terrains up for investors.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission announced the licensing round on Tuesday in Abuja as the government seeks to attract fresh capital into the country’s upstream petroleum sector.
The announcement came as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, disclosed that Nigeria’s crude oil and condensate production had climbed to 1.82 million barrels per day.
Lokpobiri said the figure represented an increase of more than 80 per cent from the production level recorded in 2023 when the Tinubu administration assumed office.
He disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja, citing data submitted to his office on Monday, and attributed the increase partly to a surge in drilling activities, with more than 73 rigs currently active in the country.
Also speaking at the event, the NUPRC Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said the commission had approved 120 oil and gas Field Development Plans since 2024, with about $47.6bn in capital commitments.
According to Eyesan, the approved projects are expected to add 1.74 million barrels of oil and 13.9 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day to Nigeria’s production capacity when fully developed.
On the new licensing round, Eyesan said the 40 blocks would be available to investors with the required technical competence, financial capacity and commitment to developing Nigeria’s petroleum resources.
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She said the exercise followed approval from Tinubu and the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
Eyesan added that the new bidding guidelines would require bidders to disclose their beneficial owners, while the evaluation methodology and results would be published more extensively to strengthen transparency in the process.
She announced the licensing round during her closing remarks at the fifth anniversary celebration of the NUPRC in Abuja.
