The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has given 31 companies that emerged winners of 37 oil and gas blocks in the 2025 Licensing Round a 90-day window to pay their statutory signature bonuses or risk forfeiting their provisional awards.
The warning comes one month after the commission conducted the commercial bid conference in Abuja, where the successful bidders for the available assets were announced.
In a notice issued on Sunday, the regulator said compliance with the payment requirements had commenced following the issuance of provisional award letters to the successful companies.
The NUPRC warned that any winner that fails to meet the payment deadline stipulated under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) would lose both its bid guarantee and provisional award, with the affected block subsequently offered to the next-ranked reserve bidder.
“Exactly a month ago, the NUPRC hosted the 2025 commercial bid conference in Abuja where 31 companies emerged winners of 37 oil and gas blocks. Having issued the winners with the provisional awards, compliance with the payment of signature bonuses has already begun,” the commission said.
It added that winners who failed to pay their signature bonuses within the stipulated period would forfeit their bid guarantees and lose their provisional awards to reserve bidders.
The 37 assets comprise Petroleum Prospecting Licences (PPLs) located across some of Nigeria's established and emerging hydrocarbon provinces, including the Niger Delta onshore, shallow-water and deep offshore areas, as well as frontier basins.
The blocks include PPL 2A29 to PPL 2A62 in the Niger Delta, PPL 2010 in the deep offshore, PPL 308 in the Benin Basin, PPL 900 to PPL 903 in the Anambra Basin, PPL 700 in the Chad Basin, and PPL 800 and PPL 801 in the Benue Trough.
The commission has also published the names of the 31 successful companies alongside the reserve bidders ranked for each of the 37 blocks.
The licensing round attracted significant interest, with 143 companies participating and submitting about 200 bids for the 37 blocks eventually awarded. However, 13 of the 50 blocks initially offered received no bids.
Under the PIA 2021 and relevant licensing guidelines, successful bidders are required to pay signature bonuses ranging from $3m to $7m, depending on the block and applicable terms.
Beyond the signature bonus, the successful companies are required to provide the prescribed guarantees, pay first-year rentals and fulfil other post-award obligations within the specified period.
The NUPRC said failure to satisfy the requirements would trigger the automatic transfer of the affected asset to the next-ranked reserve bidder.
The commission's Chief Executive Officer, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, had earlier called on the successful bidders to make the required payments promptly and move towards the development of the awarded assets.
The latest directive effectively puts the successful companies under a tight compliance schedule.
The provisional award letters were issued following the commercial bid conference of July 21, 2026. With the 90-day payment window running from the date of the provisional awards, one month has already elapsed, leaving the successful bidders with about 60 days to complete the required payments.
Consequently, the deadline for the payment of the signature bonuses is expected to fall on October 19, 2026.
Failure to pay the statutory signature bonus and first-year rent within the 90-day period will result in the forfeiture of the company's bid guarantee and revocation of its provisional award.
The affected block would then be reassigned to the designated reserve bidder in accordance with the licensing framework.
The NUPRC urged stakeholders and members of the public seeking additional information on the awards, payment obligations and other compliance requirements to consult the 2025 Licensing Round portal.
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