Foreign oil and gas companies participating in Nigeria’s 2025 licensing round will be allowed to bid for assets without first incorporating local subsidiaries, but must establish Nigerian-registered entities within 90 days after receiving licence approval.
The clarification was issued by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, which said the requirement would apply only to successful foreign bidders and would serve as a condition for the final award of oil and gas licences.
Regulators said the approach is designed to attract wider international participation by removing upfront incorporation costs, while still ensuring that winning companies maintain a formal corporate presence in Nigeria once licences are granted.
The 2025 licensing round covers 50 oil and gas assets across both mature and frontier basins. Of these, 35 blocks are located in the Niger Delta, including onshore, shallow-water and one deepwater block. The remaining 15 assets are in frontier basins such as Benin, Anambra, Benue and Chad, where exploration risks are higher due to limited geological data.
To further stimulate investor interest, the commission has reduced work programme security requirements, although it stressed that all commitments made by bidders will remain binding after licence awards. Signature bonuses for the assets range from $3 million to $7 million per block and must be paid within 60 days of receiving offer letters.
Applicants are permitted to bid for up to two assets, with each bid assessed independently. The licensing framework also allows companies to form consortiums, provided regulatory approval is obtained and an operator with a minimum 30 percent participating interest is appointed. Regulators warned that defaulting consortium members may lose their stakes if their actions hinder asset development.
Fiscal incentives under the licensing round are targeted rather than broad-based, focusing on greenfield projects, deepwater developments and non-associated gas assets that require substantial capital investment and longer development timelines.
Successful bidders will choose between concessionary arrangements, under which the federal government retains back-in rights of up to 60 percent, or production sharing contracts where NNPC Limited acts as concessionaire.
While assets in mature basins benefit from existing seismic and well data, regulators noted that frontier blocks carry higher subsurface uncertainty. Access to geological data is restricted to approved repositories and licensed data providers.
Industry analysts say the flexible incorporation timeline and eased financial conditions reflect Nigeria’s effort to remain competitive in attracting upstream investment amid growing global competition for energy capital.
