19 Nigerian Oil Licences Face Expiry In 2026 — NUPRC Report
No fewer than 19 oil licences in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector have stated expiry dates falling within 2026, according to the latest Nigerian Upstream Concession Situation Report released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The report covers petroleum exploration and production concessions across the country’s upstream oil and gas industry, including Petroleum Prospecting Licences (PPLs) and Oil Prospecting Licences (OPLs).
The affected concessions comprise 12 PPLs and seven OPLs. The report also records three licences with expiry dates in 2025, while several other concessions are scheduled to expire in 2027 and beyond.
The development comes amid the Federal Government’s renewed efforts to attract investment into the upstream sector, increase crude oil production and encourage the exploration and development of previously underutilised oil and gas assets.
Among the PPLs with stated expiry dates in 2026 are PPL 220, held by Navante Exploration and Production Limited, which is due to expire on October 16; PPL 232, held by Kizi Oil and Gas Services Limited, with an expiry date of November 16; and PPL 235, held by Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Limited, which expires on November 1.
Other affected PPLs include PPL 223, with a November 30 expiry date; PPL 251, which expires on November 16; and PPL 266, held by AOS Orchard Petroleum Development Limited, with a November 21 expiry date.
The report also lists PPL 277, PPL 275 and PPL 254 with February 14, 2026 expiry dates, meaning their stated tenures had elapsed by the time the latest report was published in August.
However, the NUPRC document does not indicate that the affected licences have been revoked or cancelled.
In the OPL category, the concessions listed with 2026 expiry dates include OPL 228, held by Sahara Upstream Production Nigeria Limited, which expired on July 9; OPL 289, operated by Cleanwaters Consortium, with an expiry date of September 9; and OPL 809 and OPL 810, both with June 14 expiry dates.
Also listed are OPL 276, which expires on August 14; OPL 2010, with a December 23 expiry date; and OPL 215, held by Noreast Petroleum Nigeria Limited, which had a May 3, 2026 expiry date.
The affected acreage cuts across onshore, continental shelf and offshore areas. For instance, PPL 220 covers 44.816 square kilometres in the onshore Niger Delta and is associated with the Abigborodo field, derived from OML 49.
PPL 232 covers 32.366 square kilometres on the continental shelf and is associated with the Amaniba field, derived from OML 67, while PPL 235 covers 28.121 square kilometres on the continental shelf and is associated with the Udara field, derived from OML 70.
The expiry schedule comes against the backdrop of fresh upstream licensing by the NUPRC. In July 2026, the commission issued 19 Petroleum Prospecting Licences to 12 successful awardees under the 2024 Licensing Round and the 2022/2023 Mini Bid Round.
The new licences cover deep offshore, shallow-water and continental shelf acreage, with several of them granted on July 8, 2026, and carrying expiry dates extending to July 7, 2031.
The regulator has stressed that the award of an oil licence should mark the beginning of exploration and development activities rather than serve merely as an asset-holding opportunity.
NUPRC Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, recently warned successful bidders under the 2025 commercial bid round that operators who failed to develop their assets within the prescribed period could lose them under the Petroleum Industry Act’s “drill or drop” provisions.
She said the commission expected successful bidders to immediately commence work on their assets, warning that licences could be recalled if operators failed to meet their obligations.
However, the expiry dates contained in the latest concession report do not automatically mean that all 19 licences will leave the hands of their current holders.
Some of the concessions are marked for possible optional tenure extension or conversion, while others are identified as being undergoing conversion.
Among those marked “conversion in progress” are PPL 219, held by Nuway Oaklane Limited; PPL 236, held by Emadeb Energy Services Limited; PPL 243, held by Waltersmith Petroman Limited; and PPL 258, held by Halkin Exploration and Production Limited.
In addition, some OPLs, including OPL 228, OPL 809 and OPL 810, carry indications that they are being processed for possible optional tenure extension or conversion.
The report therefore establishes that the stated tenure of 19 oil licences falls within 2026, but does not establish that the NUPRC has terminated or revoked all the affected concessions.
The report also contains a separate Petroleum Exploration Licence, PEL 1, held by TGS-Petrodata Offshore Services Limited, with an expiry date of April 20, 2026. The licence covers a 56,500-square-kilometre deep offshore Niger Delta area for 3D seismic and GravMag activities.
The Petroleum Mining Lease category does not significantly contribute to the 2026 expiry count, as most of the PMLs listed in the report have substantially longer tenures. For example, PML 1 runs until March 2043, while PML 79 extends to March 2046.
Energy expert, Professor Emeritus Wumi Iledare, said licence renewal would generally depend on whether operators had undertaken meaningful exploration or development activities.
He explained that where significant work had not been carried out, renewal could become difficult, stressing that oil licences were governed by the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act and were issued with defined expiration or relinquishment periods.
Iledare added that operators seeking renewal were expected to meet the criteria set by the upstream regulator and should have engaged the commission ahead of the expiry of their licences.
The Federal Government has repeatedly expressed its intention to take action against dormant oil and gas assets under its “drill or drop” policy.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has said the government would seek to recover idle assets from operators that fail to develop them.
The latest NUPRC concession report therefore places renewed attention on the tenure of existing upstream assets as Nigeria seeks to boost exploration, increase production and attract fresh investment into the oil and gas industry.
For the affected licence holders, the key issue will be whether their concessions are renewed, converted, extended or otherwise dealt with in accordance with the applicable regulatory framework.
The NUPRC report does not provide the final regulatory outcome for each of the affected licences.
