New NUPRC guidelines slash signature bonus requirements, enforce stricter bidding rules, and open 50 oil blocks across onshore, shallow water, and deepwater terrains.
As Nigeria prepares for the 2025 oil licensing round, the Federal Government has once again lowered the entry price for prospective investors, cutting the signature bonus from $10 million to between $3 million and $7 million. The reduction was announced by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in an update published on its website.
According to the commission, the new pricing model is part of a broader effort to ease entry barriers and make Nigeria more competitive in the global energy market.
“Interested in one of the oil blocks listed for the 2025 Licensing Round? The Nigerian government has graciously reduced the signature bonus to between $3m and $7m,” the commission said. It added that all bidders must submit signature bonus bids within that range, as approved by the Minister of Petroleum.
This latest cut follows a major adjustment in 2024, when the government reduced signature bonuses from about $200 million to $10 million across categories. NUPRC Chief Executive, Gbenga Komolafe, explained at the time that the commission benchmarked fees from countries like Brazil and saw the need to bring Nigeria’s costs in line with global standards.
A signature bonus is a mandatory, non-refundable payment made by companies upon signing an oil or gas licence agreement. Previously, deepwater assets attracted a $10 million bonus, while onshore and shallow-water blocks carried a $7 million charge. These figures have now been reduced further to $7 million for deepwater and $3 million for onshore/shallow water. The commission also noted that the bonus payment must be made strictly in U.S. dollars.
Successful bidders in the 2025 round will receive a Petroleum Prospecting Licence (PPL), which grants exclusive rights to drill exploration and appraisal wells and the non-exclusive right to conduct broader exploration activities within the licensed area. The licence also allows holders to take and dispose of crude oil or gas recovered during production tests.
The NUPRC said the PPL will run for an initial three-year period, with a possible three-year extension for onshore and shallow-water blocks, while deepwater and frontier assets carry an initial tenure of five years.
The regulator also introduced a two-stage bidding process for awarding oil blocks. The first phase the qualification stage, involves submitting detailed applications that will be evaluated in line with the established guidelines. Only applicants deemed qualified and shortlisted will proceed to the bid stage, after signing a confidentiality agreement.
At the bid stage, shortlisted companies will submit their technical and commercial proposals strictly in line with the regulations. The NUPRC warned that no company or consortium is permitted to bid for more than two assets across all submissions. Any company with equity or management involvement in multiple consortia will have all related applications counted as a single bid.
The commission listed 50 blocks available for bidding across onshore, shallow-water and deepwater terrains. The blocks include:
PPL 2A29; PPL 2A30; PPL 2A31; PPL 2A32; PPL 2A33; PPL 2A34; PPL 2A35; PPL 2A36; PPL 2A37; PPL 2A38; PPL 2A39; PPL 2A40; PPL 2A41; PPL 2A42; PPL 2A43; PPL 2A44; PPL 2A45; PPL 2A46; PPL 2A47; PPL 2A48; PPL 2A49; PPL 2A50; PPL 2A51; PPL 2A52; PPL 2A53; PPL 2A54; PPL 2A55; PPL 2A56; PPL 2A57; PPL 2A58; PPL 2A59; PPL 2A60; PPL 2A61; PPL 2A62; PPL 2010; and PPL 307.
Others on offer include:
PPL 308; PPL 309; PPL 900; PPL 901; PPL 902; PPL 903; PPL 700; PPL 701; PPL 702; PPL 703; PPL 800; PPL 801; PPL 802; and PPL 803.
