NNPC opens bid for award of fresh offshore processing arrangements

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), yesterday, conducted a public opening of bids tendered by a total of 101 Nigerian and multi-national companies competing for the award of Offshore Processing Arrangements (OPA).

In an effort to introducing some level of transparency into the process of bringing into the country refined petroleum products, especially Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

In the OPA, the NNPC undertakes to allocate a dedicated volume of crude oil for refining at offshore locations in exchange for petroleum products at pre-agreed yield pattern.

The exercise, which was broadcast live on national television and conducted in the full glare of representatives of the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), executives of the bidding companies and other crucial oil and gas industry stakeholders, comes as a swift departure from the previous OPA award exercises that were conducted without public participation.

The exercise, which was conducted by the last administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, lacked transparency with many of the companies involved, alleged to lack integrity.

Ibe Kachikwu, the NNPC boss, while speaking at the flag-off of the exercise, noted that the Corporation had taken the pain to make the process leading up to the award open to public scrutiny to demonstrate before all members of the public that NNPC had nothing to hide.

“At the end of this exercise, we must be able to engage companies that are known to everybody and not shrouded in mysteries. We must have terms that are very transparent and comparative to terms anywhere else in the world where OPA are being done,” Kachikwu said.

He said while the Corporation was working assiduously to ensure that the refineries were re-streamed to optimal levels, the NNPC would in the interim maximise the OPA’s in such a way as to secure the best deals possible for Nigeria.

“I hope that we should be able to build in futuristic growth patterns in the new deal. We should be able to come up with companies that have solid investments in Nigeria because this is not just a trading issue,’’ he said.

Commenting on the exercise, Murjanatu Gamawa, representative of the NEITI, commended the NNPC for the giant step taken towards transparency and accountability.

Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, managing director, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company Limited (PPMC), a subsidiary of the NNPC, said the essence of the exercise was to provide a level playing field for all industry players and to cut- off middlemen who had been exploiting the system.

She observed that this was the first time NEITI would be invited to witness a bid process at the NNPC, noting that it was a clear indication that NNPC took transparency and integrity issues seriously.