- The Centre for Energy Policy, Research and Strategic Development praised NUPRC’s Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan over the conduct of the 2025 licensing round
- 143 companies submitted 200 bids for 37 of the 50 oil and gas blocks offered, spanning both established and frontier basins across Nigeria
- CEPRSD executive director Dr Cletus Okpe urged Eyesan to sustain regulatory discipline beyond the bidding stage into post-award enforcement
A Nigerian energy think tank has publicly praised the chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, for how she handled the country’s 2025 oil and gas licensing round.
The Centre for Energy Policy, Research and Strategic Development (CEPRSD) issued the commendation on Sunday, with its Executive Director, Dr Cletus Okpe, describing the process as transparent, structured and professionally managed.
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Okpe said 31 companies emerged successful for 37 oil and gas blocks, and that the outcome showed the bidding process had been credible and had attracted serious investor interest.
Wide Participation Across Nigeria’s Basins
A total of 143 companies took part in the exercise, submitting 200 bids for assets spread across both established petroleum-producing areas and frontier basins, including the Benue Trough, Chad Basin, Anambra Basin and Benin Basin. Of the 50 blocks put forward by the commission, 37 attracted bids while the remaining 13 received none.
“The participation of 143 companies, which submitted 200 bids for 37 assets, shows that investors are willing to commit resources to Nigeria when they have confidence in the rules, evaluation process and regulatory environment,” Okpe said.
He credited Eyesan’s leadership for keeping the commercial stage of the process within a clearly defined regulatory framework, and said the interest recorded in frontier basins was a particularly encouraging sign for a sector that has historically concentrated activity in established producing zones.
Financial Discipline and the ‘Drill or Drop’ Principle
Okpe also highlighted the commission’s insistence on financial discipline, noting that successful bidders must meet their payment obligations before receiving final awards. He said this approach would prevent companies from acquiring blocks speculatively without the means or intention to develop them.
“Financial discipline is critical to the success of any licensing exercise. It is not enough for companies to win blocks; they must demonstrate that they have the capacity and willingness to pay the required signature bonuses, execute their work programmes and move the assets towards production,” he said.
The CEPRSD executive director further praised the commission’s use of the “drill or drop” principle, which he described as a tool to hold operators accountable and root out those seeking to sit on acreage without meaningful activity.
He also commended the involvement of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in monitoring the commercial bid conference, saying independent oversight was essential to protecting public confidence in the process.
Okpe called on Eyesan and her team to carry the same standards into the post-award phase, warning that the credibility built during the bidding exercise could only be sustained if performance obligations were enforced without compromise.
“The stewardship displayed by Mrs Eyesan deserves recognition because transparency in resource allocation is inseparable from public trust,” he said.
Atiku challenges Tinubu on borrowing, oil windfall claims
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Federal Government’s borrowing strategy, questioning why the Tinubu administration continues to raise funds through domestic loans despite what he described as a substantial windfall from higher global crude oil prices.
Atiku, who was the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2023 election, argued that the government’s fiscal approach lacked transparency and accountability.
Source: Legit.ng