Nigeria will auction undeveloped oil and gas blocks next year, prioritising natural gas development to support the country's commitment to UN Sustainable Development Goals, the oil regulator said on Wednesday.

This would be the third auction of blocks since the country passed an expansive oil overhaul law in 2021, part of efforts to ramp up oil production to fund government spending.

"The licensing round is more than a commercial exercise, it is a bold declaration that Nigeria is ready for business," Gbenga Komolafe, head of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, said during a bid conference in Lagos.

Komolafe said a round of bidding that Nigeria opened in February for new offshore oil blocks has been completed and that successful bidders would receive licences for their blocks "within a few months".