The Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) announced on 4 June that the 2026 oil block bid round will commence in the third quarter of 2026. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, the commission’s chief executive officer, did not give a specific start date. The previous 2025 bid round began on 1 December and is still ongoing. The commission appears to want to begin this year’s round earlier. Eyesan said she had already received approval from the minister of petroleum to commence the process.

The commission did not disclose how many blocks will be offered in the 2026 round. Since its creation under the PIA in 2021, the NUPRC has launched three licensing rounds, with the 2026 round set to be the fourth. Across the previous three rounds, the regulator has offered a cumulative 76 blocks, increasing the number offered in each round. In its first mini-bid round after the commission was created, it offered only seven blocks. It then offered 19 blocks in an expanded 2024 round and 50 blocks in 2025, as it became more confident in its capacity to manage the bidding process.

Learning from previous problems, the NUPRC has introduced new processes intended to make bidding more transparent and increase the likelihood that winners move to drilling after receiving blocks, rather than abandoning or reselling them. 

The commission has introduced a more transparent digital bidding process that allows bidders to track their bids. More significantly, it has reduced the signature bonus, which had been a major entry barrier for interested firms. The signature bonus has been cut from as high as about USD 200 million to as low as USD 3 million for marginal fields and USD 7 million for deep offshore fields in the last bid round. The commission is now emphasising technical competence and financial capacity to move quickly to site, rather than the ability to pay a high signature bonus.

The NUPRC is also increasingly offering dormant blocks. These are blocks that have produced before or have data indicating that they can produce. This is intended to reduce cases in which bid winners abandon blocks because they later prove unviable.

There is already evidence of increased interest from oil firms in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, and the commission is hoping to take advantage of that. Tinubu has introduced several reforms that have reduced obstacles that previously made the sector unattractive. The government says these reforms have attracted about USD 10 billion in new investments since 2023, with another USD 50 billion in the pipeline. The passage of the PIA in 2021 also helped create a clearer regulatory framework, providing more certainty to major players. There are also signs of improved security, enabling more production to reach terminals.

The 2026 bid round is also likely to attract interest from international players seeking to diversify away from Middle Eastern suppliers. Nigeria’s tested fields and large volumes of associated gas may be seen as a faster route to reducing dependence on Middle Eastern oil, especially with Dangote Refinery already operating domestically and able to take some crude output. That provides a ready market, making production more attractive. 

The downside is the 2027 election. The election may discourage some investors, who could choose to wait until they know whether Tinubu will return and whether the reforms that have increased the sector’s attractiveness will continue.

The June 2026 issue of Nigeria Focus also includes the following:

Implications

Spotlight

• ADC deregistration ruling risks inflaming pre-election tensions

Politics

• Diezani acquittal reduces prospects of Nigerian prosecution
• State police bill passes crucial hurdle

Economy

• Easing of Iran crisis could bring economic relief

Oil & Gas

• NNPCL prepares for IPO
• Dangote Refinery raises funds for expansion
• Dangote petrol exports vanish in May
• New oil licensing round to start as previous round remains pending
• Tax changes already boosting revenues

Security

• Lagos IED explosion adds to insecurity concerns
• Northern groups warn that profiling Fulani communities could worsen insecurity

Numbers