By Clement Nwabuko
ABUJA (PRECISE POST) – The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has urged international investors to take advantage of Nigeria’s improving investment climate by participating in the 2026 oil and gas licensing round, offering 40 petroleum blocks.
The Commission Chief Executive (CCE), Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed that the portal for the licensing round would officially open on November 20, 2026, expressing optimism that the exercise would attract substantial investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector.
Eyesan made the disclosure on Monday, November 2, during a roundtable discussion titled, ‘Energy Sovereignty in an Interconnected World: Aligning National Priorities, Markets and Global Security’, at the 2026 Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) in the United Arab Emirates, the statement signed on Monday by Eniola Akinkuotu Head, Corporate Communications and Media Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said.
She called on prospective investors to explore the opportunities presented by the licensing round, noting that the Federal Government had introduced an attractive fiscal framework, improved security and incentives to make Nigeria’s petroleum sector more competitive.
“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,” she said.
According to her, the government has put measures in place to manage operating costs, reduce investment risks and provide incentives capable of encouraging investors to commit capital to the country’s vast petroleum resources.
The NUPRC chief executive attributed the improvement in Nigeria’s investment climate to the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in 2021 and subsequent executive orders signed by President Bola Tinubu.
She said the Commission had conducted at least four successful licensing rounds between 2021 and 2026, attracting fresh investments into the sector, in contrast to the pre-PIA era when licensing exercises were less frequent.
Eyesan also highlighted Nigeria’s enormous gas potential, putting the country’s proven gas reserves at 215 trillion cubic feet (TCF), while noting that daily production currently stands at approximately seven billion cubic feet (7bcf).
She said the gap between Nigeria’s vast gas reserves and current production levels presents significant investment opportunities, particularly with major gas infrastructure projects designed to expand supply within the country and across the African sub-region.
“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,” she said.
Eyesan further identified the proposed Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic Gas Pipeline and the Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline as strategic projects capable of connecting Nigeria’s gas resources to regional and international markets, including Europe.
She stressed that the country’s gas development strategy was not limited to meeting domestic demand but also positioned Nigeria to become a major supplier to neighbouring African countries and international markets.
The NUPRC boss, however, acknowledged that competition for global petroleum investments had intensified as more countries discover and develop hydrocarbon resources.
She said Nigeria had responded by introducing reforms aimed at addressing the major concerns of investors, particularly execution risks, high costs, project 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,” she stated.
The Commission maintained that the 2026 licensing round would provide another opportunity for investors to participate in the development of Nigeria’s upstream petroleum industry and unlock the country’s extensive oil and gas potential.
