Nigeria is offering 40 oil and gas blocks to investors in its 2026 petroleum licensing round, with the bidding portal scheduled to open on November 20, as the Federal Government seeks to attract fresh investment into the country’s energy sector.
The Commission Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, announced the date on Monday at the 2026 Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) in the United Arab Emirates.
Speaking during a roundtable discussion titled Energy Sovereignty in an Interconnected World: Aligning National Priorities, Markets and Global Security, Eyesan urged international investors to take advantage of what she described as an improving and more competitive investment environment in Nigeria.
“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,” she said.
She added that the government had introduced an attractive fiscal framework, improved security conditions and incentives aimed at reducing operating costs and encouraging investment.
“We have set a very attractive fiscal framework for investors. The entire environment is a lot more secure. We have been able to manage costs with a lot of incentives for investors and we expect to see investors take up the offer when we open the portal,” she said.
PIA Reforms Drive Investment Push
The NUPRC chief executive attributed improvements in Nigeria’s petroleum investment climate to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), enacted in 2021, and executive orders signed by President Bola Tinubu.
According to Eyesan, the commission conducted at least four successful licensing rounds between 2021 and 2026, bringing additional investment opportunities into the country’s upstream petroleum industry.
She described this as a departure from the period before the PIA, when licensing rounds were less frequent.
Eyesan said Nigeria was positioning itself to attract investors amid intensifying competition as more countries seek capital to develop their petroleum resources.
She noted that investors increasingly consider execution risks, project costs, delays and regulatory uncertainty when deciding where to commit capital.
“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 said.
Nigeria Targets Investment in 215 TCF of Gas Reserves
Beyond oil exploration, Eyesan highlighted Nigeria’s substantial natural gas resources as another major investment opportunity.
She said the country had an estimated 215 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas reserves, while daily production stood at barely seven billion cubic feet (7bcf).
According to her, the gap between the country’s gas resources and current production presents significant opportunities for investors, particularly with major infrastructure projects expected to improve supply.
“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 also identified the proposed Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic Gas Pipeline and Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline as important projects that could expand the country’s gas export capacity and strengthen regional energy supply.
She said the projects could help Nigeria serve both domestic and regional markets, while providing opportunities to supply international markets, including Europe.
NUPRC Seeks Competitive Advantage in Global Energy Market
The commission chief maintained that Nigeria was taking steps to position itself competitively in the global energy market by addressing concerns that could discourage investment.
She said the country’s investment strategy was focused on reducing uncertainty, controlling costs and improving the conditions required to develop its oil and gas resources.
The 2026 ADIPEC conference provided a platform for discussions on energy security, investment, global markets and the changing dynamics of the international energy industry.
Nigeria’s latest licensing round represents another effort to attract capital into its upstream petroleum sector and develop its substantial hydrocarbon resources.
The announcement was contained in a statement issued by Eniola Akinkuotu, Head of Media and Corporate Communications at the NUPRC, on November 2, 2026.
