The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) expects 22 newly awarded oil field operators to contribute at least 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Nigeria’s production within the next five years.
The commission has pledged to support holders of Petroleum Prospecting Licences (PPLs) awarded during the 2022/2023 and 2024 licensing rounds to accelerate development and achieve first oil. However, it warned that inactive oil blocks could be revoked if operators fail to begin development within the stipulated timelines.
NUPRC Chief Executive Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan announced the target in Lagos during an onboarding workshop for PPL holders themed “From Award to Production: Delivering Nigeria’s Upstream Petroleum Potential under the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.”
Eyesan said the two-day workshop was organised to address problems encountered in previous licensing rounds, where several operators failed to develop their awarded assets. She added that the initiative was part of efforts to increase reserves and production in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
“For this set of awardees, we are expecting nothing less than 250,000 barrels per day in the next five years at least from the 22 awards,” she said, adding that Nigeria remained on course to reach three million barrels of oil per day by 2030.
She welcomed participants from the 2020, 2022/2023 and 2024 licensing rounds, noting that operators had received their licence documents and were expected to begin work promptly while complying with regulatory requirements.
Eyesan said previous licensing rounds had experienced significant setbacks because some operators failed to develop their oil fields after securing the licences.
“We had post-award challenges. Most sat on their acreages,” she said, adding that several marginal fields also failed to take off.
Reflecting on the 2010/2012 divestment rounds, she explained that some operators had successfully increased production from assets that previously produced nothing to 60,000 barrels per day, while others raised output from brownfields to 80,000 barrels per day. However, some licence holders failed to establish the necessary upstream business structures despite paying their financial obligations.
“Oil and gas is a specialized business. Some paid the signature bonus but failed in setting up the business,” she said, recalling an operator whose accounts were not even maintained on an Excel spreadsheet.
NUPRC Sets Deadline for Inactive Oil Blocks
Eyesan said the commission was not only responsible for regulating the industry but also for helping operators understand their obligations and work effectively with the regulator.
She explained that the workshop would guide participants through their work programmes, technical requirements, host community obligations, exploration activities and the support available from the commission.
“Over the next two days we will walk you through the entire journey — what are your work programme, technical and host community obligations, when and how to approach the Commission, and what support we provide,” she said.
She also encouraged participants to build relationships and share industry knowledge, pointing to the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) as an example of an organisation that helps members exchange experiences and improve competitiveness.
The workshop’s first day featured experts from the commission, alongside professionals from legal and financial institutions. Five technical sessions covered the process from licence award to first oil, including regulatory requirements, exploration, appraisal, commercial viability, field development, well operations, production and exploration financing.
Eyesan urged the new licence holders to learn from the achievements and mistakes of previous operators.
She also reaffirmed October 31, 2026, as the deadline for revoking inactive oil and gas licences under the PIA’s drill-or-drop provision.
“We have issued a directive that by the end of this month, those who were awarded licences and have not done anything within the stipulated time — three years for those onshore and five years for those offshore — the Commission will call in those blocks. It’s going to be drill or drop,” she said.
Eyesan added that the practice was consistent with approaches used in other countries, including the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and warned that extensions would no longer be granted automatically.
“We want to see that in the next two years, more than half of you have reached first oil. In the next three, four years, you are drilling your second well,” she added.
Heirs Energies to Share Strategies for Reviving Oil Wells
Meanwhile, indigenous energy company Heirs Energies is set to share its experience in restoring underperforming oil and gas wells and improving asset performance at the Upstream Production Optimisation & Asset Performance Summit 2026 in Lagos on Wednesday, October 21.
The company’s Deputy Vice President of Engineering, Sunny Adoga, and Senior Reservoir Engineer, Cleverson Esene, are expected to join industry experts to discuss practical solutions to challenges limiting Nigeria’s upstream petroleum production.
Adoga will participate in a panel session titled “Silent Wells, Lost Barrels: Bringing Declining and Shut-In Wells Back Stronger,” where he is expected to discuss ways to revive underperforming wells and improve production efficiency.
Esene will join another session, “Follow the Barrel: Where Is Nigeria’s Production Being Held Back?” to examine factors restricting national output and opportunities to recover additional value from existing assets.
The summit, scheduled to take place at the Lagos Oriental Hotel, will bring together upstream operators, regulators, engineering companies and technology providers to explore ways of increasing production, reducing operational downtime and improving asset performance.
Heirs Energies said its contributions would draw on its experience operating Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17 in the Niger Delta, where targeted interventions have helped improve output from a mature asset.
The company’s participation comes as Nigeria intensifies efforts to recover shut-in production, reduce output losses and maximise the value of existing oil and gas infrastructure.
In January 2026, the NUPRC identified production optimisation and revenue expansion as key priorities for the upstream sector. It stressed the need to restore economically viable shut-in wells, address declining output and accelerate the delivery of new production.
The commission also identified regulatory efficiency, infrastructure integrity and improved hydrocarbon measurement as important factors in increasing national production.
In October, the NUPRC announced that more than 788,000 barrels per day of shut-in production had been identified across 63 operators, highlighting the potential to recover lost output from existing oil and gas assets.
Against this background, discussions at the summit are expected to focus on practical solutions that could help operators overcome production constraints without relying solely on costly new developments.
