The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, yesterday said that the era of speculative, or status-symbol oil licences were over. He cautioned prospective investors in the 2025 oil licensing bid round that mistakes or miscalculations in the bidding process will be at their own risk, warning that no refund or asset swaps will be considered.
He spoke at the 2025 NUPRC pre-bid conference in Lagos monitored virtually.
“I’ve had obligations to solve so many problems following the 2020 bid round. The government received several representations from people who won those bids; some of them came for refunds of their bidding fees. It is clearly stated that if you go for any bid round, the registration fee is not refundable. But some people came to my office demanding a refund of the bidding fees. Others also said that, ‘Look, the blocks or the fields that were given to us were not the way we actually saw them.’ How is that my business?
“A few of these bidders have also come to say they should be given other acreages and that the one they bid for was not good enough, ‘so give us another one’. I want to state very clearly that the PIA does not provide for asset exchanges or refunds on these grounds.”
Once a bid is completed and an award is made in accordance with the law, the commercial and technical risk lies with the people who chose to bid for those assets. The government under any law has no obligation to refund your bidding fees or your signature bonuses because you find out that eventually you didn’t see oil or you only found gas,” he warned.
He also cautioned against keeping blocks idle, saying, “what I’ve discovered in my over two years at the ministry is that some people have had licenses for 20 years and they are very proud, going around the world with the nicest suits and saying, ‘look, I have a license.’ What value have you added to yourself? he queried. “You’ve ended up wasting your money and fooling yourself around the world,” Lokpobiri said.
The minister emphasised that the 2025 licensing round is anchored firmly on law, referencing the Petroleum Industry Act. He said Sections 73 and 74 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) require that petroleum prospecting licences and petroleum mining leases (PMLs) be awarded through a transparent, competitive and non-discriminatory process based on financial, technical and work programme parameters.
He said: “In the past, people who won licences had no capacity, or intention to develop them. Some held them for speculation, thinking one day they could sell at a profit. That era is gone,” He urged companies without sufficient capital to collaborate with credible partners to ensure their bids are viable.
“If you don’t have money and you have technical skill, it’s important to form consultative partnerships with those who have financial capacity. At the end of the day, it will be a workable business for everyone,” he stated.
On the future of energy, the minister reassured investors that hydrocarbons remain central to global energy supply. “Fossil fuel resources will never go away. They will constitute over 50 per cent of global energy sources for the foreseeable future,” he said.
The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, agreed with the minister’s position, noting the various reforms introduced to make the sector more accessible and sustainable.
“This is my first major engagement as the commission’s Chief Executive. I am not new to the industry. We have gone through the trenches together. The Commission has made a lot of strides in the last couple of years, enabled primarily by the PIA.
“Hitherto in the PIA, we had instruments that supported block sitting. With the advent of the PIA, if you do not work your blocks, it will be taken from you. And many of the assets on offer today are recovered as fallow fields. So, I think we need to appreciate the Federal Government and the founding fathers of the PIA for this great job that they have done for us,” she said.
Eyesan also announced a revision in the signature bonus approved by President Bola Tinubu to reduce barriers to entry and adjustments to other fees payable before first oil. She stressed that the commission’s reforms are designed to ensure technically competent operators to manage the assets while maintaining commercial viability.
“Indeed, Nigeria should be seen, not just as any destination. It should be the preferred investment destination. The number of indigenous companies that are now producers has increased astronomically. As we move forward, we must ensure sustainability. The ecosystem of operators, service providers, investors, and banks must work together to maintain industry growth.”
The NUPRC chief added that the commission plans to commence the 2026 bid round almost immediately, running preliminary processes in parallel with the 2025 round to ensure continuity and regularity in licensing.
A statement by the NUPRC Head, Media, Eniola Akinkuotu, the NUPRC boss plans on increasing production and revenue expansion through the recovery of shut-in volumes with economic value, arresting decline, reducing losses, and accelerating time-to-first oil—without increasing burdens or transaction cost.
This, she said, had already begun by recently “turning on the light” in a long shut-in asset.
According to Mrs Eyesan’s plan, regulatory predictability and speed can be achieved by running regulation like a service, enforcing rules transparently and making quick time-bound decisions.
The new NUPRC boss plans to strengthen governance, process safety, host community outcomes, and encourage decarbonisation through safe, governed and sustainable operations.
“Going forward, the Commission will be measured on the following key success metrics -Faster, predictable regulatory approvals, higher, more secure and sustainable production, credible licensing and disciplined acreage performance, world-class HSE (Health, Safety and Environment) and process safety outcomes, trusted measurement, transparency, governance and data integrity,” she said.
Mrs. Eyesan assured that the NUPRC will enhance regulatory efficiency and predictability by publishing Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for all major approvals.
The timeline to production will be reduced through proactive discussions regarding all necessary approvals, implementation of stage-gate processes, and mutual agreement on timelines with the Commission.
“Stakeholders are encouraged to submit their projects for consideration. For matured opportunities, please submit your request at the latest end of Q1, 2026. This would provide a simplified and holistic framework that creates obligations for both operators and the Commission.”
She said the Commission will launch a digital workflow for permitting, reporting and data submissions, adding that the NUPRC will work with the industry to identify capacity gaps and develop tiered intervention in the most critical areas with immediate impact on regulatory efficiency, “while we harmonise our own internal processes to eliminate conflicting regulatory actions and reduce friction.”
She revealed that the NUPRC’s internal transformation programme through a project Management office is in flight and “I will provide more details on this in the coming days.”
The NUPRC boss also convened a “CCE–Operators Leadership Forum for monthly engagement”.
The participants will include all operators (including NNPC), OPTS, IPPG, and emerging players.
The meeting, she said, will be focused on approval timelines, production restoration, infrastructure integrity, and gas monetisation and development.
This is expected to enable the NUPRC to identify systemic bottlenecks and provide greater predictability.
Mrs. Eyesan also stressed the need to improve hydrocarbon accounting and measurement by tracking every barrel produced and promptly address discrepancies or losses.
On host communities, the NUPRC encouraged all operators to liaise with the commission “as we plan first engagement with host community leaders to reaffirm commitment to HCDT (Host Community Development Trust) implementation.
She also said one of her key goals is to ensure 100per cent to the Petroleum Industry Act within 12 months. This, she said, will be monitored with a dedicated team situated in her office.
“The commission going forward will issue quarterly progress reports. Let therefore bring all high impact shut in fields for approval.
“On the Commission’s part, a 90-day program to fast track approvals for near-ready FDPs, well interventions, rig mobilisation and other quick-win opportunities have commenced,” the CCE stated.
