The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) remains optimistic that the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) will generate revenue, increase investment inflow and create jobs in the country as it phases out gas flaring.
Speaking to BusinessDay at the NGFCP 2022 Bidders Conference & Investors Forum in Abuja on Thursday, Gbenga Komolafe, commission chief executive, NUPRC said the program has attracted the interest of the diplomatic community and foreign investors especially as gas is a premium resource all over the world and we are optimistic that it will be a success
“Although the program is still on we aim to generate millions of dollars and at the end of the program we must be able to give full account of the revenue generated; apart from forestalling the deleterious impacts of gas flaring on the environment, the Program will also end the wanton wastage of the country’s premium economic resource,” he said.
He said as fossil fuel becomes less popular due to climate change, natural gas has assumed a stature of significant importance as the bridging fuel for many oil and gas producing nations.
“For us here in Nigeria, Gas has been adopted as our transition fuel to drive the industrialisation of the Nation’s economy in line with the expectations of the Decade of Gas initiatives launched by the Government,” he said.
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Komolafe said that the Programme received over 300 applications from interested applicants however only 139 were successful following the evaluation exercise conducted in line with the Request for Proposal (RFP) published criteria.
While congratulating the qualified applicants, he noted that prospective bidders are expected to submit bid proposals in line with the requirements and terms of the RFP, covering technical, commercial, financial, and other relevant areas regarding the project as all proposals from bidders will be judged strictly on their merits.
“At the Request for Proposal (RFP) phase, qualified applicants will have access to the data room for data prying and leasing, including suite of Commercial agreements, for the forty-eight (48) gas flare sites on offer in this NGFCP 2022, the precise flare sites, volumes, and compositions of gas offered will be accessed in the Data room to be made available to Qualified Applicants via the NGFCP 2022 Portal upon payment of relevant fees as prescribed in the RFP,” he said.
Komolafe said that the Data room sessions will be held virtually to provide flexibility and comfort to all participants, adding that the commission will continue to provide a predictable and enabling regulatory environment to Qualified Applicants in line with its technical and commercial statutory mandates with a view to optimizing the commercialisation of these flare gas resources.
The chief executive said that since the program was enacted, some issues like COVID-19 slowed down its activities but because if its importance, it was relaunched and the implementation has started as the conference is entering the commercial stage.
Habib Nuhu, executive commissioner, development & production, NUPRC said the commission is actively trying to work within the timeline that was rolled out initially and with the current plan everything should be done in two months time.
He added that the program has received unprecedented attention worldwide and there have been several engagements to this effect.
“Nigeria is richly endowed with gas and we identify critical opportunities around 10 assets that can help us stream gas supply to support the achievement of the aspirations of the gas policy; we are also doing a lot to have enabling infrastructure required to ensure gas is being moved from the source centre to the city and the market,” he said.
He added that in this era of transition, the commission will continue to collaborate and engage with stakeholders, financiers, technology providers and other public agencies to support the program.
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