The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has given 31 companies that won 37 oil and gas blocks in the 2025 Licensing Round 60 days to complete their signature bonus payments or risk forfeiting their provisional awards.
The commission said the compliance process had commenced following the issuance of provisional award letters to the successful bidders after the commercial bid conference held in Abuja on July 21, 2026. Under the Petroleum Industry Act, successful bidders are required to meet their financial and other post-award obligations within the prescribed period.
“Exactly a month ago, the NUPRC hosted the 2025 commercial bid conference in Abuja where 31 companies emerged winners of 37 oil and gas blocks. Having issued the winners with the provisional awards, compliance with the payment of signature bonuses has already begun,” the commission said.
It added: “Winners who fail to pay signature bonuses within the stipulated time frame in line with the Petroleum Industry Act will forfeit their bid guarantee and lose their provisional awards to the reserve bidders.”
The 37 blocks span Nigeria’s Niger Delta onshore, shallow-water and deep-offshore areas, as well as frontier basins. They include PPL 2A29 to PPL 2A62 in the Niger Delta, PPL 2010 in the deep offshore, PPL 308 in the Benin Basin, PPL 900 to PPL 903 in the Anambra Basin, PPL 700 in the Chad Basin and PPL 800 and PPL 801 in the Benue Trough.
The licensing round attracted 143 participating companies, which submitted about 200 bids for the 37 blocks. However, 13 of the 50 blocks initially offered attracted no bids. For the successful blocks, signature bonuses range from $3 million to $7 million per block, alongside first-year rents, required guarantees and other post-award obligations.
With the statutory 90-day payment window running from the issuance of the provisional awards on July 21, about 30 days had elapsed by the time of the commission’s notice, leaving the successful bidders with approximately 60 days to complete their obligations. The deadline falls on October 19, 2026, after which any company that has failed to meet the applicable requirements risks losing its bid guarantee and provisional award, with the asset transferred to the next-ranked reserve bidder.
NUPRC Chief Executive Officer, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, had earlier urged the successful bidders to make the required payments promptly and move towards developing the awarded assets. The commission said the names of the successful companies, reserve bidders and details of the 37 blocks had been published on the 2025 Licensing Round portal.