Business
NUPRC announces 2026 licensing round
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has announced that the 2026 oil and gas licensing round will commence by the third quarter of 2026, following approval from the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
The commission disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday after a visit by Meren Energy, formerly Africa Oil, to its headquarters in Abuja.
According to the statement, NUPRC Chief Executive Officer, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, announced the timeline while receiving the delegation.
“The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says the 2026 Licensing Round will commence latest by Q3 2026, having received the approval of the Minister of Petroleum Resources in line with the Petroleum Industry Act,” the statement said.
Mrs Eyesan expressed satisfaction with the progress of the ongoing 2025 Licensing Round, noting that the commercial bid phase is scheduled for July, after which preparations for the next round would begin.
A licensing round is a competitive process through which governments allocate oil and gas exploration and production rights to companies.
2025 licensing round
The announcement comes months after the NUPRC, under its former Chief Executive, Gbenga Komolafe, launched the 2025 licensing round, which took effect from 1 December 2025.
At the launch, Mr Komolafe said the commission was focused on addressing funding constraints in the upstream sector by improving collaboration among stakeholders.
“One of the factors that affected business is that activities were happening in silos, but the NUPRC now realises the need to bring everyone together,” he said.
As part of preparations for the 2025 exercise, the commission in January invited global energy investors, upstream operators, financial institutions and strategic partners to a webinar ahead of the bid process.
In March, the NUPRC announced the completion of the pre-qualification stage, enabling successful applicants to access and lease relevant geological and technical data required for technical and commercial bid submissions.
“With the pre-qualification stage now successfully completed, the Commission will, from today, March 17, 2026, permit successful applicants to lease data in preparation for the technical and commercial bid submissions,” the commission said at the time.
The regulator added that applicants would only be allowed to source data from approved channels and must provide evidence of payment before submitting bids.
‘Attractive investment destination’
Speaking on Wednesday, Mrs Eyesan said increased participation in the 2025 licensing round reflects growing confidence in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
She attributed this to rising investments, improved production levels and reforms implemented under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“We are also fortunate that the President and Minister of Petroleum Resources have approved the 2026 Licensing Round,” she said.
“So, we are in the process of finalising the 2026 launch which will happen latest by the third quarter. So, this is the make-or-break point, and we want to make sure we make it.”
ALSO READ: Nigerian govt inaugurates new NUPRC board members
Also speaking, Meren Energy Group CEO, Oliver Quinn, said reforms in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector have encouraged the company to expand its investments and participate more actively in asset acquisitions and licensing opportunities.
Mr Quinn said Nigeria remains Meren Energy’s top investment destination in Africa.
“We have operated in Agbami, Akpo and Egina world-class fields. I think till date, in 20 years, about $11 billion in capital from our side has gone into these assets, and about $4 billion has gone to tax and royalties,” he said.
“Nigeria remains the core of our business today because of the quality of these assets.”
According to him, the company is encouraging its partners to deepen investments in existing assets to boost production.
Mr Quinn also said Meren Energy was the first company in Nigeria to sell crude oil to the Dangote refinery and would continue to meet its Domestic Crude Supply Obligation, provided commercial terms remain favourable.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has attained trillionaire status after SpaceX, the rocket, AI and satellite communications company established by him, turned a soaraway success on its first trading day, surging 20 per cent to $2.1 trillion in valuation.
SpaceX’s shares closed at $161 on the Nasdaq on Friday, compared to its initial public offering (IPO) price of $135, making it the biggest-ever stock market debut.
The IPO had earlier raised $75 billion from investors and the underwriters of the transaction before the listing.
“Liftoff! First $SPCX trade complete,” Space X wrote on X (formerly Twitter), which Mr Musk also owns.
The 54-year old now has a total net worth of $1.1 trillion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with its stake in SpaceX standing at 42 per cent or $767.1 billion as of Friday.
SpaceX debuted with a valuation of around $1.8 trillion. Its valuation at the end of Friday’s trade makes it the sixth-largest publicly traded company in the United States.
Trading under the ticker symbol “SPCX,” SpaceX began trading shortly before noon, attracting strong investor demand.
The listing places SpaceX among the world’s most valuable companies, despite the firm reporting a loss of nearly $5 billion last year and generating significantly less revenue than many technology giants with comparable valuations.
“I gave SpaceX a 10 per cent chance of succeeding at all,” Mr Musk said shortly before the company was listed.
SpaceX, since its establishment in 2002, has evolved from an experimental rocket startup into a dominant player in aerospace, satellite communications, and AI-related infrastructure.
READ ALSO: Elon Musk announces formation of American Party
Starlink, its satellite internet business, has expanded SpaceX beyond rocket manufacturing into a broader technology and connectivity platform.
Mr Musk, who now controls several companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, and X, began building his wealth by co-founding Zip2 and PayPal.
After completing the acquisition of X in October 2022 in a deal worth $44 billion, Mr Musk introduced monetisation features on the platform, which contributed to the growth of his business empire.
After selling Zip2 and later PayPal, he reinvested much of his earnings into Tesla, SpaceX, and other ventures.
Mr Musk’s wealth is now nearly equivalent to the entire economic output of Switzerland or Poland.
BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has received a four-member delegation from Kenya’s Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) for a four-day technical study visit in Abuja, solidifying Nigeria’s position as a leading reference point for pension reform and regulatory innovation across the African continent.
The Kenyan delegation, led by John Keah, Director of Market Conduct and Industry Development at the RBA, is visiting Nigeria from June 8 to 11, 2026, to understudy PenCom’s regulatory and supervisory frameworks.
Keah noted that the engagement highlights the critical role of cross-border learning among African regulators aiming to optimize retirement systems and improve pension outcomes for citizens. He added that structural similarities between the two nations’ pension landscapes make Nigeria’s journey highly relevant to Kenya’s ongoing domestic reforms.
The RBA delegation is focusing its study on PenCom’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives, its risk-based supervision framework, and its strategies for expanding pension coverage to both the informal sector and the diaspora.
Keah particularly lauded the governance safeguards within Nigeria’s pension system and described the Diaspora Pension Arrangement as an innovative milestone capable of reducing old-age poverty and enhancing long-term retirement security.
Welcoming the delegation, the Director General of PenCom, Ms. Omolola Oloworaran, reiterated Nigeria’s dedication to regional collaboration and knowledge exchange. Represented by the Director of the Surveillance Department, Abdulrahaman Muhammad Saleem, the Director General revealed that pension assets under management in Nigeria have grown to over ₦32 trillion, representing approximately 10.4 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
This growth, she noted, stems from continuous regulatory reforms, heightened governance standards, and rigorous supervisory mechanisms established since the inception of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in 2004.
Ms. Oloworaran also highlighted the Federal Government’s recent settlement of outstanding accrued pension rights liabilities as a historic turning point for the CPS.
The intervention, executed through the issuance of a Federal Government bond, effectively resolved a prolonged funding backlog that had previously delayed retirement benefits for public sector employees within Treasury-Funded Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
Under the new framework, accrued rights are transferred directly into retirees’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs), granting immediate access to investment returns and eliminating lengthy waiting periods.
The technical visit, anchored on the theme “Risk-Based Supervision and ESG Integration in Pension Funds,” includes interactive departmental presentations, study tours to selected Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), and collaborative sessions on emerging risks.
Both regulatory bodies expect the engagement to deepen bilateral cooperation and foster resilient, inclusive, and sustainable pension architectures across East and West Africa.
The post Nigeria’s Pension Assets Top ₦32tn as Kenyan Regulator Understudies Reforms appeared first on Business Today NG.
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