By Bassey Udo
Buoyed by the transparent handling of the 2024 mini-bid round by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, TotalEnergies says it is confident of participating in the upcoming 2025 licensing bid round scheduled to begin on December 1, 2025.
The President, TotalEnergies Exploration and Production, Mr. Nicolas Terraz, who led a high-level delegation from the company on a courtesy visit to the Commission Chief Executive (CCE), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, said the transparency and credibility displayed by the Commission during the 2024 mini-bid round is an indication that the 2025 exercise would be better.
Accompanied by the Managing Director/Chief Executive of TotalEnergies Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Mathieu Bouyer, and other senior company executives, Terraz said on Monday during a closed door meeting at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja that he was confident that the 2025 bid round would benefit from the Commission’s reform-driven processes and enhanced governance framework.
He said the company remained optimistic about fresh opportunities that abound in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, noting that the clarity and fairness exhibited by the Commission in the previous bid round have strengthened investors’ confidence in the process.
The lessons learned from the 2024 bid exercise, he pointed out, would positively shape the expectations by existing and prospective bidders in the 2025 licensing bid round.
Mr. Terraz reaffirmed the company’s long-term commitment to Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, describing the country as a strategic hub in its global portfolio.
He emphasised TotalEnergies’ readiness to align with the NUPRC’s vision for a more competitive, transparent, and investment-driven oil and gas industry.
“Drawing from the 2024 bid round, there is no doubt that the 2025 edition of the exercise would be positive”, he said, stressing that TotalEnergies was “optimistic about the positive outcome of the new bid round.”
In his remarks, the NUPRC Chief Executive, Engineer Gbenga Komolafe assured his guests that the Commission was committed to build on the successes achieved under the 2024 mini-bid round by delivering an even more transparent 2025 licensing round scheduled to commence on December 1, 2025.
Reiterating the NUPRC’s commitment to a predictable regulatory environment, the CCE described the Commission as not only a regulator, but also a strategic business enabler through the strict implementation of bid guidelines in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
He said the era of regulatory ambiguity in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector was over, assuring that Nigeria now has a regulator that steps in to address the issues as an enabler.
This, he pointed out, is to underscore the investor-centric reforms undertaken by the Commission, which has continued to drive it to improve operational clarity for oil and gas companies.
Komolafe commended TotalEnergies for its recent execution of projects under the Obagi Host Communities Development Trust (HCDT), describing the development as a demonstration of the company’s commitment to community development and the spirit of the PIA’s host community provisions.
Also, he used the opportunity of the visit to encourage the company, which is the operator of the TotalEnergies/Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPC) joint venture, to actively participate in the upcoming 2025 Licensing Round, which he said the Commission has positioned to attract high-value investments, new entrants, and increased exploration activity across frontier and mature terrains.
