The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) expects 22 oil block awardees to deliver at least 250,000 barrels of crude oil within the next five years, as the regulator intensifies efforts to accelerate exploration, development and production from recently awarded petroleum assets.
The commission’s Chief Executive Officer, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed this on Tuesday during an onboarding workshop for holders of petroleum prospecting licences (PPLs) awarded in the 2022, 2023 and 2024 bid rounds. She said the workshop was designed to help the awardees meet their minimum work programme commitments and progress towards first oil.
Eyesan said the commission expected some operators to achieve first oil within three years, while reiterating that the regulator’s priority was to ensure that the awarded blocks moved beyond licensing into active exploration and development.
“For this set of awardees, we are expecting nothing less than 250,000 barrels in the next five years at least for about 22 awards that were issued,” she said.
The NUPRC chief said the awardees had committed to minimum work programmes requiring them to undertake and advance exploration activities. The commission, she added, would monitor their progress and ensure they deployed the technical and financial resources required to develop the assets.
Addressing concerns about the industry experience of some awardees and the relatively recent registration of certain companies, Eyesan said the licensing process followed established technical and financial qualification requirements. She maintained that companies awarded the blocks had demonstrated the competencies needed to work the assets.
Eyesan also reiterated the October 31 deadline for the revocation of inactive oil and gas licences under the drill-or-drop provision of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). Under the directive, licence holders who have failed to undertake the required activities within the stipulated period risk losing their assets.
She said operators are expected to begin drilling within the applicable timelines, which are three years for onshore licences and five years for offshore licences. The commission, she added, would no longer grant extensions automatically.
“It’s going to be drill or drop. This is standard practice all over the world. In the UK, in the Netherlands, all over the world,” Eyesan said.
The regulator also expects more than half of the awardees to achieve first oil within the next two years, while companies should be drilling their second wells within three to four years, she said.
The initiative forms part of the NUPRC’s broader push to translate petroleum licensing into measurable exploration activity and additional production. Meeting the five-year target will depend on the awardees’ ability to execute their work programmes, secure the necessary funding and technical capacity, and progress from exploration to commercial production.
The October 31 deadline also signals a tougher enforcement approach towards licence holders who fail to develop their assets, as the regulator seeks to discourage acreage retention without meaningful work and accelerate the development of Nigeria’s upstream petroleum resources.