Two hundred and twenty-three firms have bided for contracts for the lifting and sales of Nigeria’s natural gas liquids for both domestic and export for the next two years.
The contracts would replace the existing ones which expire at the end of June.
Speaking at the opening of bids for the 2019-2021 sale and purchase of Natural Gas Liquids in Abuja on Tuesday, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru said the corporation was not just focused on production of gas and sending it out but was committed to expanding the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) sector in Nigeria.
Baru who was represented by the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Gas and Power, Engr. Saidu Mohammed said all bids would be treated fairly and transparently.
He said: “As a corporation, our current pursuit is to continuously make grow our domestic gas supply and utilisation, while maximising value from our unutilised knock off condensate and natural gas liquid resources.
“Our strategic focus in the coming months is to expand domestic Liquefied Natural Gas (LPG) supply from our established local sources while also encouraging investments in storage, marketing and distribution infrastructure.
“Through a transparent competitive bidding and evaluation process, we intend to enlist companies with proven investments in Gas utilisation, storage, distribution and marketing infrastructure,” he added.
Dr. Baru explained that the objective of the 2019 tender was to engage reputable qualified companies as off-taker for natural gas Liquids for domestic and export market.
He said the domestic supply of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas, would exceed demand in the country and blamed the current low consumption in Nigeria on lack of penetration of the commodity across the length and breadth of the country.
The GMD added that the planned increase in the supply of cooking gas would be driven by its current initiative of undertaking transparent competitive bidding and evaluation process to select off-takers for the commodity.
According to him, “This time around, we are not only focused on lifting and sending it out, but we are also focusing on maximum value within the nation. In other words, we want to use this kind of transaction to propel the LPG market throughout the nation to the level it deserves.
“Today, Nigeria is one of the lowest in per capital consumption of LPG, simply because we cannot penetrate.
“The only way to penetrate is to first of all, make the products available; afterwards, people would come and invest in it by way of storing, transporting and distributing it”.
The event was witnessed by representatives of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), among other stakeholders.
SOURCE: The Authority