Opening remarks by the Commission Chief Executive Commercial Bid Conference for the Nigeria Licensing Round: “Expanding Opportunities: Right Play, Right Place, Right Time”
Let me extend a warm welcome to everyone attending the Commercial Bid Conference for the Nigeria 2025 Licensing Round both physically and virtually.
1. Today marks a significant milestone in our ongoing journey, which began eight months ago. I intentionally refrain from calling it a climax, as this is not the conclusion. This journey commenced with a clear directive from His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to open new opportunities and further integrate Nigeria with the global community. The mandate was to conduct all processes transparently, fairly, and in alignment with international best practices.
2. Acting on this directive, the commission began its journey, initiated by my predecessor, Engineer Gbenga Komolafe. When I took office, my team and I made a clear pledge to carry out the Licensing Round according to the published schedule and to conclude both the technical and commercial bidding phase today, 21 July 2026. I am pleased to note that we have upheld this promise. Our adherence to deadlines and timelines has been steadfast, and we have effectively turned Mr President’s guidance into tangible action. Today, we are witnessing the results of these efforts.
3. The licensing round has progressed through several distinct phases, including registration, prequalification, data access, bid preparation, and submission. Subsequently, technical evaluation was conducted, and today we are presenting both the technical and commercial bid submissions to identify the new awardees. I would like to acknowledge all participants for their engagement in this process; your involvement demonstrates ambition and serves as a testament to the trust and confidence in Nigeria’s value and potential. Your commitment has significantly contributed to the quality of the process. For this, I extend my sincere appreciation to each of you.
4. To reinforce trust, the commencement of this licensing round attracted interest from around 300 companies across 50 available assets. After the prequalification process, 196 applicants were deemed eligible to advance to the bidding stage. By the submission deadline, 143 companies had submitted 200 technical and commercial bids covering 37 assets.
5. Beyond these quantitative markers, a diverse group of participants has shown keen interest in the process. New entrants are leveraging this opportunity to test their capabilities, while established players—both local and international—are seeking to expand their presence and further consolidate their positions. This validates our commitment to offering Nigerian opportunities on an equitable basis to all stakeholders, regardless of their experience within hydrocarbon development. Such engagement underscores continued confidence in Nigeria’s upstream potential and demonstrates that our initiatives to enhance Nigeria's competitiveness for investment capital are yielding positive results.
6. I would like to highlight that transparency was integral to the design and execution of this Licensing Round. The Nigeria 2025 Licensing Round Guidelines provided clear information regarding participation rules, technical and commercial requirements, and evaluation criteria. These provisions were further clarified through the Licensing Round Portal, the Pre-Bid Conference, subsequent webinars, as well as dedicated channels established to address applicants' enquiries. I extend my appreciation to the diligent team who responded to numerous enquiries, questions, and requests for clarification.
7. To enhance the integrity of the process, NEITI was present to observe the relevant evaluation and bid-opening procedures. We would like to express our appreciation for their participation today. It is evident that allocating petroleum rights is a matter of public trust, requiring a process that can withstand independent scrutiny. NEITI’s involvement demonstrates Nigeria's commitment to internationally recognised standards of transparency and accountability in natural resource management.
8. The evaluation was rigorous, but the objective was simple: to place the assets in the hands of bidders capable of delivering the best overall long-term value to Nigeria through increased reserves, higher production, sustainable fiscal returns and wider economic benefits. Therefore, a comprehensive technical evaluation was conducted for each bid and submission. The team carefully assessed each bidder's competence and experience, organizational and operational capacity, credibility of their proposed work program, resource commitment to execution, and ability to deliver within the proposed timelines.
9. Today, the commercial components of the qualified bids will be opened and aggregated with the technical scores. The commercial evaluation will consider the signature bonus, work programme commitment and work programme performance security. The winning bidder for each asset will be the bidder with the highest weighted aggregate score and the bid that delivers the best overall long-term value to Government—not simply the highest immediate payment.
10. This approach recognises that petroleum acreage does not create value merely because it has been awarded. It creates value when it is explored, discoveries are appraised, projects are developed and production reaches the market. The assets available in this Licensing Round have potential to add about 500 million barrels to Nigeria's reserves, increasing our existing reserves of crude oil and condensate—which currently stand at 37.01 billion barrels—and 215.19 trillion cubic feet of gas.
11. Over the next three years, once successfully developed, these assets are expected to contribute a minimum of 300,000 barrels per day of crude oil and condensate production. This licensing round represents a vital step for Nigeria in achieving its goal of reaching three million barrels per day by 2030. It is essential to highlight that the government will support new production from both small and large fields, aiming to broaden the range of participants and promote collaboration throughout the industry. Additionally, the commission prioritizes not only growth but also the production of “efficient barrels”—those that deliver value to all stakeholders, including the government.
12. These projections represent more than additional barrels. They represent increased Government revenue, improved foreign-exchange earnings, greater utilisation of infrastructure, opportunities for indigenous service companies, employment creation, technology transfer and broader economic growth.
13. To the bidders who will emerge successful today, an award is not a trophy to be held. It is an obligation to invest, drill, develop and produce. Our message is therefore clear: drill or drop. Work programmes must be implemented, financial commitments must be honoured and agreed milestones must be achieved.
14. The Commission will support credible operators through clear guidance, predictable regulatory decisions and timely intervention where genuine obstacles arise. In return, we expect performance. Acreage cannot remain inactive while Nigeria’s production, revenue and energy-security objectives are deferred.
15. The true measure of the success of this Licensing Round will not be the number of winning bidders announced today. It will be the speed with which the awards move from paper to seismic acquisition, from seismic to drilling, from drilling to development and, ultimately, from development to production.
16. Successful bidders should also note that today’s announcement does not, by itself, constitute the final grant of a Petroleum Prospecting Licence. Each winning bidder must satisfy the post-bid conditions prescribed in the Guidelines, including the provision of the applicable guarantees, payment of the signature bonus and first-year rent, and execution of the relevant contractual documents.
17. A winning bidder that fails to fulfil the prescribed conditions within 90 days of receiving its offer letter will lose its entitlement to the asset. The Commission may thereafter invite the reserve bidders, in their order of ranking, to fulfil the conditions of the award. The Government is not seeking speculative holders of acreage; it is seeking partners with the capacity, discipline and commitment to deliver measurable production and economic value.
18. To those who may not emerge as winning bidders today, I acknowledge the considerable effort and resources invested in preparing your bids. Nigeria’s upstream industry offers opportunities beyond the assets being considered today, and we encourage you to remain engaged.
19. The Commission remains committed to predictable and periodic licensing rounds. Regular access to acreage is necessary to sustain exploration, replenish reserves and provide investors with a clear pipeline of opportunities. Our acreage administration will continue to be transparent, competitive, data-driven and firmly linked to performance. Let me mention again that Mr President nod to commence the 2026 bid round and we will be back with another basket of opportunities soon. So, watch out.
20. Let me at this point commend, the multidisciplinary evaluation team and all staff of the Commission who worked diligently to deliver this process. I also thank NEITI, the relevant Government institutions, our technical partners and advisers for their contributions.
21. Above all, I thank the participating companies for the confidence demonstrated in Nigeria. That confidence must now be matched by investment decisions, capital deployment, movement of rigs and the delivery of new production.
22. The theme of this Conference— “Expanding Opportunities: Right Play, Right Place, Right Time”—is not merely a slogan. The opportunities have been presented, the regulatory framework is clearer, and the time to invest, drill, develop and produce is now.
23. As we proceed with the opening of the commercial bids, I assure all participants that the Commission will continue to apply the published criteria fairly, consistently and transparently.
24. I welcome you once again and wish us a successful Commercial Bid Conference.
Thank you, and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
