NUPRC to open 2026 licensing round portal on November 20, with 40 oil and gas blocks on offer
- The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission says its 2026 licensing round portal opens on November 20.
- Its chief executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said 40 oil and gas blocks are on offer to investors.
- She spoke in Abu Dhabi, pointing to new gas projects and efforts to cut execution risk.
Nigeria will open the portal for its 2026 oil and gas licensing round on November 20, with 40 blocks on offer to investors. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) announced the date through its chief executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan.
Eyesan spoke on Monday at a roundtable at the 2026 ADIPEC Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi. The session was titled “Energy Sovereignty in an Interconnected World: Aligning National Priorities, Markets and Global Security”.
She told the gathering that Nigeria offers a stable environment for investment at a time of global energy tension, and urged investors to take advantage of the round.
Gas projects and the race for capital
Eyesan said the country has just completed major gas infrastructure projects that will unlock gas supply within Nigeria and the wider sub-region. She also named two projects still on the drawing board: the Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic Gas Pipeline and the Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline.
According to her, that gas will serve European and regional demand as well as domestic needs. “The stars are already aligned,” she said.
She acknowledged that the competition for investment has grown stiffer as more countries discover petroleum resources. Nigeria, she said, has made changes to attract the right capital.
“We understand that investors will prize execution risk, cost, delays and also uncertainty,” she said, adding that the commission has worked to guard against those risks so the country can unlock its resources.
The licensing round matters to ordinary Nigerians because new investment in oil and gas affects government revenue, which in turn feeds into budgets, fuel supply and jobs. A smooth, well-subscribed round would signal that investors still see Nigeria as a place to put money.
What happens next
Investors can expect the portal to go live on November 20. The NUPRC has not, in the reports available, given a closing date for the round or a timetable for awarding the blocks.
