The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) formalized a landmark Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) No. 5 agreement on March 24, 2026, granting SeaSeisGeophysical Limited and its partner TGS exclusive rights to conduct extensive 3D seismic and gravity surveys over a 11,700 square kilometre block in the Eastern Niger Delta.
The licence ceremony took place at NUPRC headquarters in Abuja, cementing a partnership that will run for three years under the framework established by Section 71(1-10) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021. The agreement empowers the consortium to commercialise the resulting subsurface data by issuing data-use licences, with proceeds shared between the operator and the regulatory commission.
Covering water depths ranging from 400 to 2,800 metres, the PEL No. 5 block encompasses the prolific Outer Fold & Thrust Belt—a geologically complex but highly prospective region that has yielded substantial hydrocarbon discoveries across Nigeria's offshore inventory. The survey campaign is designed to sharpen subsurface imaging and reduce exploration risk across the licence area.
NUPRC Commission Chief Executive Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan said the licence issuance demonstrates the commission's commitment to evidence-based exploration policy and transparent acreages management. She emphasized that maintaining Nigeria's production and reserves targets depends on credible industry partnerships willing to commit capital to frontier and mature basin assessment.
"The PIA recognises that we assign licences on non-exclusive acreages to contractors who are willing to carry out exploration activity, and as the chief superintendent of the industry, we also ensure that we maintain our production targets, including reserves and the only way we can achieve that successfully is if we have partners who are willing to explore," Eyesan stated.
SeaSeisGeophysical Managing Director Mr. Goke Adeniyi described PEL No. 5 as the company's largest single project on the African continent, underscoring the scale of commercial opportunity embedded in Nigeria's upstream sector. He noted that block selection prioritised areas with demonstrated charge systems and structural complexity amenable to modern seismic imaging techniques.
The consortium's work programme is expected to enhance Nigeria's resource inventory by generating high-resolution datasets that support both near-term exploration drilling decisions and longer-term basin modelling efforts across the deltaic fairway.