RismadarVoice Reporters
October 7, 2026
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, has announced the offer of 40 oil blocks under the 2026 licensing round as the Federal Government intensifies efforts to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector.
The blocks cover onshore, shallow-water and deepwater assets and will be open to investors that demonstratewho technical expertise and financial capacity required to develop the resources.
NUPRC Chief Executive Officer, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, announced the licensing round in Abuja during activities marking the commission’s fifth anniversary.
Eyesan said the exercise followed the approval of President Bola Tinubu and would incorporate additional transparency requirements, including mandatory disclosure of the beneficial owners of bidding companies and broader publication of the evaluation methodology and results.
According to her, the measures are intended to strengthen investor confidence and improve Nigeria’s competitiveness in attracting global upstream capital.
The commission also disclosed that it had approved 120 oil and gas field development plans since 2024, representing an estimated $47.6 billion in projected capital expenditure.
Eyesan said the approved projects have the potential to add about 1.74 million barrels of oil per day and 13.9 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day to the country’s production capacity.
Among the developments is the $10.3 billion Zabazaba-Etan project in OPL 245, which had faced delays linked to disputes spanning more than two decades.
Eyesan said Nigeria accounted for 38 per cent of upstream investments sanctioned across Africa in 2025, compared with an average of about four per cent between 2015 and 2023.
She added that oil and condensate production increased from about 1.44 million barrels per day in 2022 to an average of 1.75 million barrels per day during the first seven months of 2026.
Gas production, according to the NUPRC chief, also increased from 6.83 billion cubic feet per day to approximately 7.97 billion cubic feet per day.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, gave a more recent oil and condensate production figure of 1.821 million barrels per day.
Lokpobiri said production stood at about one million barrels per day, including condensates, when the Tinubu administration assumed office in 2023.
He added that the number of active drilling rigs had risen from fewer than 10 in 2023 to more than 70.
Eyesan also disclosed that NUPRC had shortened the approval process for reactivating shut-in wells from between two and six weeks to as little as two to four hours.
She said the commission had approved 37 additional crude evacuation routes to reduce production disruptions and was working towards a target of three million barrels of oil per day and 12 billion cubic feet of gas per day by 2030.
The NUPRC chief also announced what she described as an “age of compliance,” under which the performance of oil and gas licensees and lessees would be assessed, scored and published.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, representing President Tinubu at the event, said the administration intended to use Nigeria’s petroleum resources to support broader economic diversification, with natural gas providing energy for industries and petroleum revenues contributing to economic stability.
Shettima said the Deep Offshore Oil and Gas Project Incentive Tax Remission Order 2026 was expected to help unlock as much as $50 billion in new investments, beginning with the Bonga Southwest project.
NNPC Limited Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, said improved regulatory certainty and faster approval processes were contributing to renewed investor interest in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum industry.
