Nigeria’s forthcoming 2025 Licensing Round is already drawing early interest from global oil players, following renewed confidence in the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s drive for transparency and regulatory clarity.
This came as the French oil major TotalEnergies lauded the NUPRC for delivering what it described as a transparent and credible 2024 mini-bid round, signalling strong interest in the upcoming 2025 Licensing Round, set to open on December 1, 2025.
The commendation came during a courtesy visit by a high-level delegation of the energy giant, led by the President, TotalEnergies Exploration & Production, Nicolas Terraz, to the NUPRC Chief Executive, Gbenga Komolafe.
The meeting was held on Monday at the NUPRC headquarters in Abuja. Terraz was accompanied by the Managing Director/Chief Executive of TotalEnergies Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mathieu Bouyer, and other senior executives.
A statement issued on Tuesday by the commission’s Head of Media and Strategic Communication, Eniola Akinkuotu, said the visit underscored the company’s growing confidence in Nigeria’s upstream regulatory environment.
Komolafe reiterated the Commission’s commitment to providing a predictable and investment-friendly regulatory framework, stressing that the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 had ended the era of uncertainty that previously slowed investor enthusiasm. “Now, in Nigeria, we have a regulator that steps in to address the issues as an enabler,” he said, highlighting reforms targeted at operational clarity and investor protection.
