By| Goodluck E.Adubazi | Abuja
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has declared an end to the era in which oil companies held prospecting licences for years without developing them, insisting that operators must now either begin exploration activities or relinquish their assets.
The Commission’s Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, made this known while receiving the management team of the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Eyesan said the development follows the implementation of Section 94 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which introduces the “drill or drop” provision requiring licence holders to actively develop oil blocks or surrender them.
According to her, the policy has already begun attracting more serious investors to Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, particularly in the ongoing 2025 licensing round, which she said would ultimately boost the country’s petroleum reserves.
“The PIA opened opportunities for both small and big players because there is now a drill-or-drop provision in the Act,” Eyesan said. “In the past, we had operators who held licences for up to 20 years and did absolutely nothing. That era is now over.”
She explained that the new framework has increased the number of assets available for competitive bidding, enabling the Commission to consider conducting licensing rounds more frequently.
“We now have more assets in the basket, which gives us the impetus to go for, if possible, annual bid rounds,” she added.
Eyesan also expressed satisfaction with the level of interest recorded in the 2025 licensing round. According to her, the Commission has put 50 oil blocks on offer, with strong participation recorded during the pre-qualification stage.
She noted that the bidding guidelines prevent any single company, whether independently or as part of a consortium, from bidding for more than two blocks.
“The outcome of the pre-qualification submission demonstrates that there is indeed a strong appetite for the bid round,” she said.
To ensure transparency in the process, the NUPRC boss disclosed that the Commission has partnered with an independent audit firm to validate its licensing system.
“We have added an extra layer of validation by engaging a reputable audit firm to interrogate the system and confirm that it is foolproof,” Eyesan said, adding that the results of the exercise would be made public to boost investor confidence.
Earlier, the Director-General of the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone, Foday Mansaray, said the visit was aimed at learning from Nigeria’s experience in managing its petroleum sector.
Mansaray noted that Sierra Leone hopes to apply the lessons to strengthen its own hydrocarbon industry and called for deeper energy cooperation between both countries.
“We are here to collaborate with the NUPRC at a bilateral level and learn from Nigeria, our big brothers in the industry,” he said.
Describing his country as “small but ambitious,” Mansaray also sought the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to enhance cooperation between the two nations in the energy sector
