By Yakubu Lawal
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has pledged to support newly awarded holders of Petroleum Prospecting Licences (PPLs) from the 2022/2023 and 2024 licensing rounds, with a target of at least 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) additional oil production within the next five years.
According to EnergyTimes reportS, NUPRC expects the 22 awardees to contribute significantly to Nigeria’s crude oil output as the country pursues its ambition of producing three million barrels of oil per day by 2030.
The Commission Chief Executive, Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, was quoted to have stated this yesterday in Lagos . October 20, 2026, during a two-day onboarding workshop for the new licence holders. The workshop has the theme- “From Award to Production: Delivering Nigeria’s Upstream Potential Under the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.”
Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the event, Eyesan said the Commission organised the programme to equip the awardees with the technical knowledge, regulatory guidance and operational insights required to move from licence acquisition to commercial production.
“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, reaffirming Nigeria’s ambition to achieve a production level of three million barrels per day by 2030.
The onboarding programme brought together subject-matter experts from the Commission, alongside professionals from legal and financial institutions, to provide practical guidance on the technical, regulatory and commercial requirements of developing oil and gas assets.
The first day featured five technical sessions covering the stages from licence award to first oil. Key areas included the regulatory framework, work programme implementation, exploration, appraisal and commerciality, field development, well operations and production, as well as exploration financing.
Eyesan urged the new licence holders to learn from the experiences of previous awardees, stressing the importance of effective planning, timely execution of work programmes and adherence to regulatory requirements.
She also reiterated the Commission’s October 31, 2026 deadline for action against idle oil and gas licences under the “drill or drop” provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
According to her, licence holders who fail to undertake the required activities within the stipulated period risk losing their assets. The timelines are three years for onshore licences and five years for offshore licences.
“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,” she said.
“It’s going to be drill or drop. This is standard practice all over the world. In the UK, in the Netherlands, all over the world.”
The NUPRC chief executive further indicated that automatic extensions for inactive licence holders would no longer be the norm, signalling a stricter approach to enforcing work commitments and ensuring that awarded oil and gas assets are developed.
She challenged the new awardees to accelerate project implementation and deliver measurable results, setting clear expectations for early production.
“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 said.
The Commission’s renewed engagement with the new licence holders is aimed at translating licensing opportunities into productive oil and gas assets, boosting national output and supporting Nigeria’s broader upstream development objectives.