The Frontier Exploration Fund, established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, was designed to support new oil exploration efforts in Nigeria's frontier basins.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on Monday said over $185 million and N14.9 billion have been released to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) from the Frontier Exploration Fund (FEF).
The commission, in a statement on Monday night, made this known in reaction to the reports alleging that the commission has withheld FEF from the NNPC Ltd.
The NUPRC said 185, 123, 333 had been approved along with N14.9 billion."
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The Frontier Exploration Fund, established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, was designed to support new oil exploration efforts in Nigeria's frontier basins.
According to the PIA, the fund shall be 30 per cent of the NNPC's "profit oil and profit gas as in the production sharing, profit sharing and risk service contracts," which shall be remitted in an escrow account dedicated to the development of frontier acreages.
The statement explained that the fund was not domiciled in the commission but in an account controlled by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The commission added that its role was simply to evaluate the work programme submitted by NNPC Ltd, after which an approval would be given for the release of the fund.
"We approve funds based on certified activities and contracts awarded. So, if a contract has not been awarded, we cannot approve payments," the statement read.
The NUPRC said in a bid to promote transparency, it had contracted PriceWaterCooper (PwC) to evaluate NNPC Ltd's claims before the final approval of the fund.
"So far, there is no outstanding sum. The NUPRC approved the final release on November 27, 2025, to the tune of $140,000,000. We have documents to back this up. Earlier, N14.9 billion and $45 million were released.
"Anyone interested can also reach out to the NNPCL rather than rely on faceless individuals seeking to tarnish the image of the Commission," the statement said.
The commission noted that the frontier fund was solely for the use of the NNPC, and it would be absurd for any operator to make spurious claims.
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The NUPRC added that the Minister of State for Petroleum (oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, had earlier issued a statement denying that the NUPRC was investigating the handling of the fund.
"The honourable minister had issued a rebuttal on the so-called investigation on 17 November 2025. It amounts to mischief for anyone to reference a statement which has been denied by the purported author," Mr Akinkuotu said.
PREMIUM TIMES contacted Andy Odeh, the NNPC spokesperson, but he was unavailable for comment as of press time on Monday night.
