…40 new oil, gas assets on offer as regulator targets 788,000bpd shut-in output, $50 billion offshore projects
THUR OCT 08 2026-theGBJournal| The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) is shifting the conversation in Nigeria’s upstream sector from who gets the blocks to who can turn them into production, as the regulator launches its 2026 Licensing Round with 40 oil and gas blocks on offer.
The announcement, made by NUPRC Chief Executive, Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, at the Commission’s fifth anniversary ceremony in Abuja, comes barely three months after 31 companies emerged winners of 37 blocks in the 2025 Licensing Round.
The July outcome, which attracted 143 companies and 200 bids for the 37 assets, marked a strong showing by indigenous and emerging players across onshore, shallow-water, deep offshore and frontier basins.
But with another acreage window now opening, the regulator’s latest message is less about the size of the opportunity and more about what happens after the licence is secured.
Eyesan said the Commission’s immediate priority is to unlock production from assets already in the system, including more than 788,000 barrels per day of shut-in production identified across 63 operators.
She also pointed to offshore projects estimated at $30 billion-$50 billion that the Commission wants to see progress towards final investment decisions, alongside efforts to move domestic gas delivery from roughly two-thirds of operators’ obligations to full delivery.
“Our licensing will be regular and predictable. Our focus will be on what moves the numbers.”
The 2026 round offers 40 blocks across land, shallow-water and deep-water terrains, with Eyesan saying the acreage is open to investors with the technical competence, financial capacity and commitment to develop Nigeria’s petroleum resources.
The development signals a changing emphasis in Nigeria’s upstream regulatory landscape. The July round demonstrated that investors are willing to compete for Nigerian acreage; the next challenge is converting that appetite into drilling, investment and sustained production.
The Commission has previously said its licensing programme is becoming a recurring and predictable process under the Petroleum Industry Act, rather than an occasional allocation exercise.
THE BIGGER STORY: DELIVERY
Rather than presenting the 2026 licensing round as another acreage giveaway, the NUPRC’s latest position places it within a broader production recovery strategy.
The regulator is simultaneously pushing operators to bring dormant or shut-in capacity back on stream, advance major offshore developments and meet domestic gas supply obligations.
That puts the spotlight on the execution gap: how quickly newly awarded and existing assets move from paper to wells, facilities and commercial output.
The Commission has already warned that the era of dormant licences is over, pointing to the Petroleum Industry Act’s “drill or drop” provision, which requires operators to develop their assets or relinquish them.
At the anniversary event, the NUPRC also honoured former directors of the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), pioneer NUPRC leadership and former National Assembly leaders involved in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act, including former Senate President Ahmad Lawan and former Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.
The Commission unveiled a special anniversary edition of its in-house publication, The Upstream Gaze, alongside a documentary chronicling its five-year journey.
But the anniversary’s most consequential message may lie beyond the celebrations: Nigeria is opening another acreage window, but the regulator increasingly wants the industry judged by what comes out of the ground.
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