…Eyesan courts fresh upstream capital at ADIPEC, touts improved fiscal terms, security and gas export opportunities
TUE NOV 03 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria is seeking to build on the investment momentum from its 2025 oil and gas licensing round, opening a fresh contest for upstream capital with 40 blocks on offer as the government intensifies efforts to attract investors into its hydrocarbon sector.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) will officially open the bid portal for the 2026 licensing round on November 20, Commission Chief Executive Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan said, urging investors to take advantage of what she described as a more competitive investment environment.
Eyesan made the pitch at a roundtable discussion titled, ‘Energy Sovereignty in an Interconnected World: Aligning National Priorities, Markets and Global Security’ at the 2026 ADIPEC Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday, November 2.
The latest round comes as Nigeria seeks to sustain the investment interest generated by its previous licensing exercise and reverse years of subdued upstream activity, positioning the country as a destination for capital amid intensifying global competition for energy investments.
“We are expecting investors to turn to Nigeria. We are going in for another licensing round and we will be launching our bid portal on November 20. We expect to see interested investors because the environment is a lot more competitive.
“We have set a very attractive fiscal framework for investors. The entire environment is a lot more secure. We have been able to manage costs with a lot of incentives for investors and we expect to see investors take up the offer when we open the portal.”
The NUPRC boss attributed the improvement in Nigeria’s investment climate to reforms introduced under the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021 and executive orders signed by President Bola Tinubu.
Between 2021 and 2026, the commission had conducted at least four successful licensing rounds, bringing additional investments into the country’s upstream sector, she said.
The development marks a departure from the pre-PIA era, when licensing rounds were less frequent, underscoring the government’s efforts to establish a more predictable framework for upstream investment.
Beyond crude oil, Nigeria is also seeking to unlock its substantial gas reserves, with Eyesan identifying the country’s estimated 215 trillion cubic feet of gas resources as a major investment opportunity. Daily gas production, however, remains at barely 7 billion cubic feet, leaving significant room for increased output.
She said ongoing and planned infrastructure developments would help close the gap between reserves and production, while creating opportunities to supply domestic and regional markets as well as Europe.
“The stars are already aligned. For gas infrastructure we just completed very major infrastructure projects that will unlock gas supply in the country and the sub-region.
“We talk about two major projects on the drawing board to move gas through the Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic Gas Pipeline and Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline. Again, this gas will go somewhere in Europe and will also meet regional demands. So, Nigeria is positioned to meet not just domestic supply,” the CCE stated.
Eyesan said competition for upstream capital had intensified as more countries seek to monetise newly discovered petroleum resources, making it imperative for Nigeria to address the risks that typically influence investment decisions.
She said the country had made regulatory and fiscal adjustments to improve its competitiveness, with particular attention to execution risks, project costs, delays and policy uncertainty.
“We understand that investors will prize execution risk, cost, delays and also uncertainty and so what we have done in Nigeria is to ensure that we guard against these risks and then attract the investment required to enable us unlock the huge resources we sit on,” the NUPRC boss said.
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