NIGERIA · ENERGY
Key Facts
- —The country Nigeria is a West African country of more than 200 million people and a member of OPEC, the oil exporters’ group.
- —What happened On Tuesday 6 October in Abuja, the upstream oil regulator opened the 2026 Licensing Round, offering 40 oil blocks on land and offshore.
- —The new rule Every bidder must disclose its beneficial owners, and the regulator will publish its scoring method and fuller results.
- —The last round In the 2025 round, 143 companies placed 200 bids, and 31 firms won 37 of the 50 blocks offered.
- —Oil output Regulator data show 1.68 million barrels a day in August; junior oil minister Heineken Lokpobiri cited 1.82 million on 6 October.
- —Why it matters US major Chevron runs the deepwater Agbami field in Nigeria, and fresh acreage shapes future supply, deal flow and governance risk.
- —Still open The 40 blocks have not been named yet; full details are due on the regulator’s website in the coming days.
Nigeria has launched its 2026 licensing round, offering 40 oil blocks on land, in shallow water and in deep water. The upstream oil regulator announced the round in the capital, Abuja, on Tuesday 6 October, the commission said.
For US investors, the round tests whether one of Africa’s largest oil producers can hand out acreage openly while it pushes output higher. Every bidder must name its beneficial owners, the real people behind each company, Punch and Daily Trust reported.
What the Regulator Announced
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) licenses and supervises oil and gas exploration and production. It was created in 2021 by the Petroleum Industry Act, the law that overhauled the country’s oil sector.
Its Commission Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, made the announcement in her closing remarks at the agency’s fifth-anniversary celebration. “Ladies and gentlemen, the wait is over,” she said, citing approval from President Bola Tinubu, in office since 2023, who also serves as petroleum minister.
“This round offers 40 blocks across land, shallow water and deepwater terrains,” Eyesan said. She said the oil blocks are open to investors with technical competence, financial capability and a commitment to develop them.
Full details of the blocks, qualification rules and procedures will go on the commission’s website and licensing portal in the coming days. The NUPRC also promised a virtual data room, webinars and a help desk for bidders.
Eyesan pledged to publish the timetable at the outset and to keep to it. Investors need dates that hold, she said, so that boards can approve bids for the oil blocks and mobilise funds.
New Rules on Who Owns the Bidders
The new guidelines will set out the scoring method in full, provide fuller publication of results and require disclosure of every bidder’s beneficial owners. Eyesan said this follows advice from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
NEITI is the national arm of a global standard that tracks payments from oil, gas and mining. Its review of the 2022 to 2024 rounds found them generally professional, transparent and inclusive.
The review still flagged gaps in the evaluation method, the disclosure of results, public access to bid information and ownership disclosure, Eyesan said. The commission has accepted those recommendations.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who represented Tinubu at the event, said acreage is now won through open bidding, Punch reported. “A friend of mine with no connection whatsoever got awarded an upstream location through a fair and just process,” he said.
Openness is a live issue across Nigeria’s oil sector. NNPC Ltd, the state oil company, reported a 2025 profit after tax of N7.2 trillion (about US$5.4 billion) on Tuesday 29 September.
Group Chief Executive Bayo Ojulari presented the audited results in Abuja, Premium Times reported. Amounts are converted at about 1,328 naira to the US dollar on 7 October 2026.
Opposition politician Atiku Abubakar, a former vice-president, has since demanded a breakdown of the sums NNPC says the state owes it.
Output Rises Toward a 3 Million Barrel Goal
Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), said on Tuesday that crude oil and condensate output had reached 1.82 million barrels a day. He cited data submitted to his office on Monday 5 October, Punch reported.
The regulator’s own latest monthly figure is lower, at about 1.68 million barrels a day in August, the NUPRC said. Lokpobiri said more than 73 drilling rigs are now active.
The NUPRC said it has approved 120 field development plans since 2024, worth about US$47.6 billion in capital commitments. Fully developed, they would add 1.74 million barrels of oil a day to capacity, Punch reported.
Blocks from earlier rounds could add about 500 million barrels of reserves and at least 300,000 barrels a day within five years, Eyesan said. The national target is 3 million barrels a day by 2030.
Her message to future winners of the oil blocks was “Drill or Drop”. “A licence is a commitment to Nigeria, not a trophy on the wall,” she said.
Lessons From the 2025 Round
The 2025 round drew 200 bids from 143 companies, the NUPRC said when it named the winners in July. In the end, 31 firms won 37 of the 50 blocks offered, and 13 blocks drew no bids.
Frontier basins outside the traditional Niger Delta, including the Anambra Basin, Benue Trough, Chad Basin and Benin Basin, also attracted bidders. The commission called that level of interest a first in the country’s history.
Since the 2021 law, the commission has run three rounds: a 2022 deep offshore mini round and full rounds in 2024 and 2025. Together they produced 57 Petroleum Prospecting Licences, the permits that allow exploration.
What It Means for US Readers
US oil major Chevron has done business in Nigeria since 1913 and operates the deepwater Agbami field, in which it holds a 67.3% interest. It holds interests in nine deepwater blocks, three of them as operator, according to the company.
Eyesan addressed international oil companies directly in her speech. Whether US majors bid on the new oil blocks will show how much confidence the rules have earned.
Disclosure of beneficial owners lowers a familiar risk for American firms: partnering with local companies whose real owners are hidden. US companies remain subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the US law against bribing foreign officials.
More Nigerian barrels also add to world supply from an OPEC member. That matters for global oil prices and, in turn, for fuel costs in the United States.
What Is Not Known
The NUPRC has not yet named the 40 oil blocks, their basins or the bidding timetable. Signature bonuses, the upfront fees winners pay for a licence, have not been set out either.
It is not yet clear how the commission will check the ownership declarations, or what happens to a bidder that hides an owner. Which international oil companies will take part is also open.
More: Nigeria news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Nigeria announce on 6 October?
Its upstream regulator, the NUPRC, opened the 2026 Licensing Round with 40 oil blocks on land, in shallow water and in deep water. Full details are due on its website in the coming days.
What is a beneficial owner?
It is the real person who ultimately owns or controls a company, even behind layers of other firms. Every bidder in the new round must disclose its beneficial owners.
Can US companies bid?
Eyesan said every eligible investor, Nigerian or international, will compete on a level playing field. US major Chevron already operates the deepwater Agbami field off Nigeria.
How much oil does Nigeria produce?
The regulator’s latest monthly figure is about 1.68 million barrels a day of crude oil and condensate, for August 2026. Junior oil minister Heineken Lokpobiri cited 1.82 million on 6 October, and the government’s target is 3 million barrels a day by 2030.
Sources: NUPRC, “NUPRC Announces 2026 Licensing Round, Unveils Plans to Boost Production”, 6 October 2026; Punch, “FG offers 40 oil blocks in licensing round”, 7 October 2026; Punch, “BREAKING: FG opens 2026 oil bid, offers 40 blocks to investors”, 6 October 2026; Daily Trust, “FG opens bid for 40 oil blocks, mandates beneficial owners’ disclosure”, 7 October 2026; Punch, “NUPRC @5: My friend got oil block without political connections – Shettima”, 6 October 2026; NUPRC, “Winners of NUPRC’s 2025 Licensing Round Emerge”, 21 July 2026; NUPRC, “Production Rises by 0.4% in August as Nigeria Meets OPEC Quota”, 13 September 2026; Premium Times, report on NNPC’s 2025 results, 29 September 2026; Chevron, “Nigeria” country page, accessed 7 October 2026.
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