The Federal Government has warned prospective investors in the 2025 oil licensing round that any errors, miscalculations or disappointments arising from the bidding process will be borne entirely by the companies involved, stressing that there will be no refunds of bid fees or signature bonuses, nor any exchange of oil assets under any circumstances.
The warning was issued on Wednesday in Lagos by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) pre-bid conference for the 2025 licensing round.
Lokpobiri said the era of acquiring oil licences for speculation, prestige or resale was over, emphasising that licences are government assets meant strictly for development and value creation.
He recalled challenges that followed the 2020 bid round, where some successful bidders demanded refunds of non-refundable registration fees or requested alternative acreages after discovering that the awarded assets did not meet their expectations.
“It is clearly stated that if you go for any bid round, the registration fee is not refundable. Yet, some people came to my office demanding refunds,” he said.
According to the minister, the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) does not provide for post-bid adjustments, asset exchanges or refunds once an award has been validly made.
“Once a bid is completed and an award is made in line with the law, the technical and commercial risks rest entirely with the bidder. The government has no obligation to refund your bidding fees or signature bonuses because you later discovered that you did not find oil or found gas instead,” he declared.
Lokpobiri also warned against holding oil blocks without development, describing licences as instruments of value creation rather than status symbols.
“Some people have held licences for 20 years and parade them around the world as trophies. That will no longer be tolerated. Licences belong to the government and must be developed within the stipulated timeframe,” he said, adding that dormant licences would be revoked.
He noted that the 2025 licensing round is firmly anchored on the PIA, particularly Sections 73 and 74, which mandate transparent, competitive and non-discriminatory allocation of petroleum prospecting licences and petroleum mining leases.
The minister urged companies without sufficient capital to partner with credible investors, stressing that hydrocarbons would remain central to global energy supply for decades.
“Fossil fuel resources will not disappear. They will account for over 50 per cent of global energy supply for the foreseeable future,” he said.
Echoing the minister’s position, NUPRC Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said reforms under the PIA had eliminated practices that previously encouraged asset hoarding.
“Before the PIA, we had instruments that supported block sitting. With the PIA, if you do not work your blocks, they will be taken from you. Many of the assets on offer today were recovered as fallow fields,” she said.
Eyesan disclosed that President Bola Tinubu had approved a revision of the signature bonus to reduce entry barriers, alongside adjustments to other pre-first-oil fees. She added that the commission plans to commence the 2026 bid round almost immediately, running preparatory processes alongside the 2025 round to ensure continuity.
Beyond licensing, she unveiled a wide-ranging reform agenda aimed at accelerating oil production, improving regulatory efficiency and tightening hydrocarbon accountability, as the Federal Government targets crude oil output of three million barrels per day by 2030.
She revealed that the commission has launched a 90-day programme to fast-track approvals for near-ready field development plans, well interventions, rig mobilisation and other quick-win opportunities capable of delivering early production.
“The commission will issue quarterly progress reports. Operators should bring forward all high-impact shut-in fields for approval,” Eyesan said, noting that a long-shut asset had recently been brought back on stream.
According to her, NUPRC’s strategy rests on three pillars: production optimisation and revenue expansion; regulatory predictability and speed; and safe, governed and sustainable operations. She said this aligns with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to raise production to two million barrels per day by 2027 and three million barrels per day by 2030.
Eyesan also announced plans to publish Service Level Agreements on approval timelines, deploy digital workflows for permitting and data submission, and institutionalise a monthly CCE–Operators Leadership Forum involving NNPC, OPTS, IPPG and emerging producers.
Nigeria is offering a total of 50 oil blocks in the 2025 licensing round. These include 16 onshore and 18 shallow-water blocks in the Niger Delta, four onshore blocks each in the Anambra, Benue and Chad frontier basins, one onshore block in the Benin frontier basin, and one deep offshore block in the Niger Delta basin.
The Federal Government said the ongoing reforms are aimed at restoring investor confidence, boosting indigenous participation and reversing Nigeria’s recent production decline caused by underinvestment, oil theft and regulatory delays.
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