The Federal Government has clarified that offering the highest financial bid will not automatically guarantee a company an oil block under the ongoing 2025 Licensing Round.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission said technical expertise, operational capacity and financial strength would all be considered before the successful bidders are selected.
The NUPRC Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed this on Tuesday at the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference in Abuja.
Eyesan explained that the evaluation process was designed to ensure that Nigeria’s petroleum assets were awarded to companies with the capacity to develop and operate them effectively.
She said, “It is not going to be just about your ability to be the highest bidder. We want to ensure that you have the right capabilities to deliver the assets, in addition to having the financial resources to deliver these assets.”
According to her, the commission examined several factors, including the experience and competence of bidders, their organisational and operational capabilities, the credibility of proposed work programmes and their ability to commit the necessary resources to project execution.
She added that the
bidders’ capacity to deliver their proposed projects within the stipulated timelines was also taken into consideration.
The NUPRC boss said the opening of the commercial bids would provide an opportunity to demonstrate the transparency of the process, noting that no one had access to the financial offers submitted by the competing companies.
“Nobody has seen anybody’s commercial bids, and we will demonstrate that today,” she said.
Eyesan further stressed that the objective was to ensure that the oil and gas assets were placed in the hands of credible and capable operators rather than companies that simply offered the highest financial bids.
The commercial bid opening represents the final phase of the licensing exercise, after which the successful companies are expected to be announced.
The 2025 Licensing Round, launched in November 2025 in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act, featured 50 oil and gas blocks spread across seven sedimentary basins.
The licensing framework combines technical and commercial considerations, with factors such as signature bonus commitments, proposed work programmes and performance security contributing to the final evaluation.
The government said the approach was aimed at attracting investors with the financial resources, technical competence and operational capacity needed to boost exploration and production in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector.
