In a statement on Tuesday, NUPRC spokesperson Eniola Akinkuotu said the company signaled its interest during a high-level meeting with the commission’s chief executive officer, Gbenga Komolafe.
Gatekeepers News reports that the TotalEnergies delegation was led by Nicolas Terraz, president of TotalEnergies Exploration and Production, alongside Mathieu Bouyer, chief executive of TotalEnergies Upstream Companies in Nigeria, and other senior officials.
During the meeting, Terraz commended the NUPRC for the transparency and credibility of the 2024 mini-bid round. He said he was confident that the commission’s reform-driven processes and strengthened governance would positively shape the 2025 edition.
He noted that the clarity and fairness displayed in the previous round had boosted investor confidence, adding that lessons from the 2024 exercise would help refine expectations for the upcoming bid.
Reaffirming TotalEnergies’ long-term commitment to Nigeria, Terraz described the country as a strategic hub for the company. “Drawing from the 2024 bid round, the 2025 edition would be positive,” he said, adding that TotalEnergies is “optimistic about the new bid round”.
Komolafe, in his remarks, emphasised that the commission operates not only as a regulator but also as a strategic business enabler under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021. He said the era of regulatory ambiguity in the upstream sector “has ended”.
“Now, in Nigeria, we have a regulator that steps in to address the issues as an enabler,” Komolafe said.
He also praised TotalEnergies for recent projects executed under the Obagi host communities development trust (HCDT), describing them as evidence of the company’s commitment to community development and compliance with the PIA’s host community requirements.
Komolafe encouraged the company to participate robustly in the 2025 licensing round, noting that the exercise is designed to attract high-value investments, new entrants, and increased exploration across both frontier and mature basins.
