MRS, Sahara Energy and Forte Oil on Thursday joined 125 other local and international energy firms in bids for contracts to supply refined petroleum products to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).
The bidding exercise was declared open by Maikanti Baru, group managing director of the NNPC, who said organisation remains the fuel supplier of last resort and must do everything possible to ensure that the country remains “wet with petroleum products” through the Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP) arrangement it has put in place.
Under this arrangement, the NNPC exchanges its quota of crude oil with companies that supply the corporation with refined products.
“The crude involved in this year’s DSDP is about 800,000 barrels at most, so we want to make sure that whoever will emerge will be able to supply on the specified dates, in order not create dislocations in the system,” Baru maintained.
A total of 128 bids were received for the DSDP contracts, including Varo Energy Marketing Limited, Sinochem Kaka TMS Limited, FMC Energy Systems Limited, Dans Global Energy Limited, Boron Oil and Gas Limited, Heiden, Oriental Energy Resources Limited, and Petroda.
Others are Petraco Oil Company, Global Oil Corporation, Omega Botler, Gulf Treasures Limited, Con Oil and Shell Western Limited, Bono Energy Limited, Montego Energy SA, Bokano Nigeria Limited, and Shoreline Natural Resources Limited.
Baru Described DSDP as “a major component of our petroleum supply portfolio and since its inception, it has helped greatly in the stabilisation of product supply to the nation.”
He said the concept has also recorded cost savings to the tune of over $500mn through major reductions in the amount usually paid for demurrage on products.
Another advantage of DSDP noted by the NNPC, is its ability to ensure that the shortages of fuel supply from the local refineries are fully augmented in order to meet national supply demands and attain over 30 days of sufficiency, particularly for premium motor spirit (PMS), which is popularly known in Nigeria as petrol.
Speaking about local content concerning the bidding process, he explained that “the major driver here is to ensure that Nigerians are not left out, and we will make sure that those who emerge, whether it is a consortium or single entity, must have physical presence in Nigeria.”
“That means that they must have some depots or retail outlets as a minimum, or they must be involved with exploration and production in crude oil. So we will ensure that most of the proceeds are domesticated in Nigeria.”
There was also another opening of bids for the procurement, supply and installation of electricity generators for the NNPC, involving 29 different companies.
Isa Inuwa, who is NNPC’s chief operating officer (COO), corporate services (CS), said that the generators the corporation is currently relying on for back-up power supply have become old and unreliable, hence the decision of the company’s management to replace them with new ones.
Among the 29 companies bidding for the project, are GMC Energy Resources, Sterling and Wilson Royal Power Solutions, Green Power International Limited, Global Spectrum Energy Services Plc and Cape Gate Investment Limited.
Others are Mutual Commitment Power Limited, IGPES Gas and Power Limited, Crown Resources Development Company, JMG Limited, Mikano International Limited, Soft and Sweet Nigeria Limited, and Next Generations Resources Limited.
YANGE IKYAA
