*Regulator targets 250,000bpd from new awards in five years, threatens to reclaim idle blocks
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has set an 18-month target for the holders of 22 petroleum prospecting licences (PPLs) to achieve first oil. It warned that blocks left idle will be taken back.
The commission also expects the new awardees to add 250,000 barrels per day to national output within five years.
NUPRC chief executive Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan disclosed this on Tuesday in Lagos at an onboarding workshop for the licence holders. She said the priority was to get the companies working and to ensure they deliver the minimum work programmes they committed to during bidding.
The 22 licences were awarded in the 2022, 2023 and 2024 licensing rounds. They are part of the commission’s plan to raise Nigeria’s production to three million barrels per day by 2030.
Eyesan said the commission expects more than half of the awardees to reach first oil within two years and to drill second wells within three to four years. Some, she said, could reach first oil within three years, while the commission wants production to begin within 18 months.
She said past licensing rounds and marginal field awards had shown that some winners struggled to develop their assets. According to her, some companies built technical teams to win bids, then disbanded them once they secured the licences.
Paying the financial obligations of a licence, she said, does not prove an operator can run an oilfield. Operators must also show technical and commercial capacity.
Eyesan warned that licences would be recovered from operators who fail to carry out required activities on time. The commission has directed the recovery of blocks inactive beyond three years onshore and five years offshore. She added that companies unable to secure technical partners or financing should not expect relief.
“So we are sure that now that we are starting on the right track, they will push the work program and ensure that we achieve in the next five years.” — Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, NUPRC chief executive. “An extension is not automatic,” she said.
She said the commission would support operators with clearer guidelines, more predictable processes and faster approvals, and would address bottlenecks that delay investment.
N10m penalty for late work programmes
The commission is also enforcing annual work programme deadlines. The window for 2027 programmes opened on October 15 and closes on November 16, 2026.
Tue commission’s senior programme and project management executive, Dr Cyril Efre, said operators who miss the deadline will pay a N10 million penalty from November 17, plus N1 million for each day of default until they submit.
He said the deadlines are set out in the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Commercial Regulations and were agreed with industry during consultations. The commission needs the time to review submissions and issue approvals before the operating year begins on January 1, he explained.
Operators can apply through the designated portal to modify approved programmes, for example to drill additional wells, subject to approval. Emergency activities require notification to the commission within 48 hours.
The same penalties will apply to operators who fail to submit half-year and full-year performance reports.
SOURCE: Leadership
