Nigeria has opened bidding for 40 oil and gas blocks, seeking fresh upstream capital while output remains well below its 2030 target of 3 million barrels a day.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission announced the 2026 licensing round on Tuesday in Abuja.
Chief executive Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan said President Bola Tinubu, who is also petroleum minister, had approved the offer of onshore, shallow-water and deepwater acreage.
Investors must show technical competence, financial capacity and a commitment to develop the assets, she said at the regulator’s fifth anniversary.
Full block details, qualification rules and participation steps will be posted on the NUPRC website and a dedicated portal in the coming days.
The round follows a 2025 exercise in which 143 companies submitted 200 bids and 31 winners secured 37 blocks, the commission said.
Those earlier awards could add about 500 million barrels to reserves and at least 300,000 barrels a day within five years, subject to development.
They could also add about 20 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, supporting the government’s Decade of Gas programme.
Eyesan said the last round drew interest beyond the Niger Delta, including the Anambra Basin, Benue Trough, Chad Basin and Benin Basin.
Immediate priorities include restoring more than 788,000 barrels a day of shut-in production identified across 63 operators.
The regulator also wants offshore projects valued at $30 billion to $50 billion taken to final investment decision.
Domestic gas delivery is to rise from about two-thirds of the obligation to full delivery, Eyesan said.
Since 2024 the commission has approved 120 field development plans, representing about $47.6 billion in capital commitments.
Those plans could add 1.74 million barrels of oil a day and 13.9 billion cubic feet of gas a day when fully developed.
Nigeria’s share of Africa’s upstream capital commitments rose from 4% in 2021 to 38% in 2025, the regulator said.
Output is recovering but still short of ambition. NUPRC put August crude and condensate at 1.68 million barrels a day.
Crude alone was about 1.50 million barrels a day, while OPEC’s direct-communication figure for August was 1.573 million.
Theft, ageing fields and underinvestment still cap gains.
