With Nigeria’s Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission preparing to launch its 2026 licensing round once the 2025 round wraps up, oil and gas expert Leesi Gabriel Gborogbosi is urging prospective bidders to take a disciplined, long-term approach to investment and risk.
Gborogbosi, managing director of Kalenoor Energy and a former Shell Nigeria project finance manager, said investors should treat licensing as a full investment programme rather than a simple asset purchase, studying the Petroleum Industry Act, the 2025 Nigeria Tax Act and licensing guidelines before committing capital.
He warned bidders to watch for hidden risks in marginal and brownfield assets, which often come with infrastructure that needs rehabilitation and host communities expecting immediate social investment after years of neglect. Beyond signature bonuses, he said bidders must budget for pre-licence costs such as data and technical evaluations, many of them denominated in foreign currency.
Gborogbosi recommended blending bank debt with equity, farm-ins, technical partnerships and reserves-based lending, and called for early community engagement and robust front-end planning to strengthen bids and protect long-term returns.
Source: allafrica.com