Italian oil giant, Eni and indigenous oil group, Sahara Energy are among the 224 companies bidding for oil lifting contracts with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that, if won, will see them move the product from the country’s oil rich Niger Delta region to international markets.
The names of the bidding companies were announced on November 24, by Maikanti Baru, group managing director of NNPC, during the contract tender opening session for the 2016 and 2017 crude oil term, which was held at the NNPC headquarters in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
Some of the companies participating in the bid process include; Modansa Nigeria Limited, Yorkshire, OMN, as well as Sahara and ENI, MRS Oil & Gas, Eni Trading & Shipping, AZ Petroleum, Matrix Energy Ltd, Delta Shipping & Marine Services, Ultimate Gas Ltd, Gunvor International BV, Repsol and Statoil.
Others are Northwest Petroleum Ltd, Delma Nig Ltd, Green & Green Petrochemicals, Forte Oil, Nisen Investment Ltd, CMCO Nigeria Ltd, Duke Oil Company, Acorn Petroleum, BP Oil, International, North Oil & Coral Global, Calson Bermuda, Glencore Energy Services, Emadeb Energy Services Ltd, Tamoil Oversea, Vitol SA, Ankor Oil and Emo oil Petrochemic.
The event was witnessed by watchdog agencies of government, such as the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), as well as civil society watchdog organisations.
“We are opening these bids before everybody, in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s quest for transparency and accountability in the conduct of government business. As at closing time today at 12 noon, November 24, 2016, as advertised for submission of bids, we have received 224 bids,” Baru told the audience in attendance.
“When compared with the 2015 and 2016 exercise, where we had 278 submissions, this is an indication that the strengthening of the criteria for bids has worked,” the NNPC Baru announced.
The 224 bids received by the NNPC this year from various oil and gas companies competing to lift Nigerian crude oil grades were less in number by 54 as compared to the 278 bids received in 2015, indicating a decrease of 19.4 percent.
Baru stated that the NNPC under his management ensured that only credible companies, especially those with refining capacities were called for in their contract procurement notices.
He said the winning bids would be announced between January and February of 2017. The selected companies would be lifting about 1.7 million barrels per day of Nigeria’s crude oil. In the 2015 and 2016 bid round, 21 companies were selected, which included eight Nigerian firms. Sources say in the current bid round, the NNPC is likely to even select more Nigerian firms, especially from the Niger Delta.
The eight indigenous firms that won bids in the 2015 2016 round include Emo Oil and Petroleum, Northwest Petroleum and Gas, Forte Oil Plc, Oando Plc, Sahara Energy Resources A.A. Rano Nigeria Limited, Eterna Oil and MRS Oil and Gas – and NNPC’s two trading partners – Carlson/Hyson and Duke Oil Incorporated.
Nigeria has multiple crude oil grades, including the very low sulfur containing Bonny Light crude, which is a highly desired grade for its low corrosiveness to refinery infrastructure and the lower environmental impact of its byproducts in refinery effluent.
Other grades of Nigerian crude oil are Qua Iboe crude oil, Brass River crude oil, as well as Forcados crude oil.
In a related development, Mele Kyari, NNPC’s group general manager (GGM) of crude oil marketing division (COMD), warned that some fraudsters are using the corporation’s name and that of its managers, including the GMD, to swindle unsuspecting corporate personalities seeking to do crude oil business in Nigeria.
Kyari lamented that these fraudsters are carrying about papers and tender documents purportedly signed by highly placed officials of the NNPC and claiming that they can supply crude oil based on some quota they allege to have from NNPC.
He also noted that some go as far as claiming to have joint ventures with NNPC, with promises of offering what they call “spot sales” to their victims through oil tankers on waters as far away as Cote D’Ivoire or elsewhere on the high seas, as well as demanding their victims to make payments into their private accounts.
However, “NNPC does not operate its own crude oil accounts but only Federal Government accounts that are domiciled at the CBN, yet the fraudsters urge their victims to pay into private accounts always,” Kyari alerted.
YANGE IKYAA, Abuja
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