The Nigerian Navy has uncovered nine illegal refining sites comprising 23 dugout pits in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, with 18 of the pits containing an estimated 104,000 litres of products suspected to be stolen crude oil.

The Director of Naval Information, Captain Abiodun Folorunsho, disclosed the discovery in an operational report on Tuesday in Abuja, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

He said the sites were uncovered during an operation carried out by personnel of Forward Operating Base Bonny under Operation DELTA SENTINEL.

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The operation also neutralised five newly excavated pits that had been prepared for imminent use before they could become operational, preventing the further expansion of the illegal refining network in the area.

Folorunsho said the operation delivered a significant setback to crude oil theft syndicates operating in the Bonny area, targeting criminal infrastructure across two communities simultaneously.

“Following actionable intelligence, personnel targeted criminal infrastructure concealed within the Wakama/Bolo and Aworkiri communities. The operation denied economic saboteurs the opportunity to activate new refining locations and sustain illicit petroleum production,” he said.

“The operation dealt another major setback to crude oil theft syndicates and further reinforced the service’s resolve to safeguard Nigeria’s critical oil and gas infrastructure,” Folorunsho added.

He said eight locally fabricated refining pots and three large storage tanks were also recovered during the operation, further disrupting the criminal network’s refining capability.

“All illegal facilities and recovered products were handled in accordance with extant anti-crude oil theft procedures,” he said, adding that by targeting both active and emerging illegal refining hubs, the Navy continues to weaken the operational resilience of crude oil theft syndicates.

“The latest success highlights the Nigerian Navy’s determination not only to disrupt illegal refining activities, but also to prevent criminal networks from rebuilding their infrastructure. By targeting both active and emerging illegal refining hubs, the service continues to weaken the operational resilience of crude oil theft syndicates and protecting Nigeria’s economic interests,” he said.

Winners of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round have 90 days from receiving their offer letters to either meet all award conditions or forfeit the assets.

Chief Executive of NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed this aspect of the terms on Tuesday in Abuja, at the opening of the Commercial Bid Conference for the round.

According to her, being named a winner does not automatically mean a Petroleum Prospecting Licence (PPL) has been granted.

She maintained that winners must still provide guarantees, pay a signature bonus and first-year rent, then sign contractual documents before a licence is issued.

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She disclosed that any bidder who misses the 90-day deadline loses the asset and the NUPRC will then offer it to the next-ranked bidder on its reserve list.

Eyesan said the Commission has no interest in acreage sitting idle in the hands of non-performing companies.

“The government is not seeking speculative holders of acreage; it is seeking partners with the capacity, discipline and commitment to deliver measurable production and economic value,” she said.

She put it more bluntly for the winning bidders: an award “is not a trophy to be held,” but an obligation to invest, drill, develop and produce. Her message to them was simple — “drill or drop.”

The exercise drew interest from about 300 companies for 50 available assets. Of these, 196 companies cleared prequalification, and 143 firms went on to submit 200 technical and commercial bids covering 37 assets.

Eyesan said the assets could add roughly 500 million barrels to Nigeria’s crude oil and condensate reserves, which currently stand at 37.01 billion barrels, plus access to gas reserves of 215.19 trillion cubic feet. Fully developed, the fields could add at least 300,000 barrels per day of crude and condensate production within three years — output NUPRC is counting toward Nigeria’s goal of 3 million barrels a day by 2030.

Beyond output, she said the projects would mean higher government revenue, stronger foreign exchange earnings, more jobs, deeper local content, and technology transfer.

Eyesan said NUPRC would judge the round’s success not by how many winners are named, but by how fast those awards turn into real activity — from paperwork to seismic surveys, to drilling, to development, to production.

In return for requiring performance, she said the Commission would offer operators a stable environment: clear guidance, predictable regulatory decisions, and quick intervention when genuine problems arise.

The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) monitored key stages of the process, which Eyesan said was carried out in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive that it meet international best practices.

She also confirmed that Tinubu has approved a new licensing round for 2026, and encouraged companies that did not win assets this time to stay engaged, as NUPRC plans to keep running rounds regularly to sustain exploration and replenish reserves.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has declared that the Petroleum Industry Act has ended the discretionary allocation of oil blocks in Nigeria.

He expressed the view on Tuesday in Abuja during the 2025 Licensing Round, marked by the successful conclusion of the commercial bid conference. “The PIA, unfortunately for some people, has prevented discretionary allocation of oil blocks,” he said jokingly.

He stressed that the law guarantees fairness and credibility, assuring investors that no one knows the content of commercial bids before they are officially opened. Lokpobiri also warned successful bidders against treating licences as speculative assets.

“In the past, I have seen people go round conferences across the world carrying licences and looking for partners who never came. Those days must be over. The licences issued today must translate into actual field development and production,” he said.

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Also speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the licensing round reflected the Federal Government’s commitment to transparency, competitiveness and credibility.

“The Federal Government remains firmly committed to creating an enabling environment that attracts investment, accelerates exploration and production, and unlocks the full value of Nigeria’s hydrocarbon resources,” Ekpo said.