The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regu­latory Commission (NUPRC) on Wednes­day announced the outcome of the bid­ding exercise and issuance of letters of award to 42 companies/entities deemed successful in the bid for 49 flare sites put forward during the 2022 Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) auction process.

In a statement made available to news­men in Abuja, NUPRC noted that 38 of the companies/entities have been award­ed 40 flare sites for standalone single flare site development, while four are awarded nine sites to be developed as clusters. ­

Reserved bidders’ status has also been accorded some compa­nies for the corresponding flare sites in case the preferred bidders failed to meet the terms and con­ditions stipulated in the RFP.

The management of NUPRC indicated on Tuesday, Septem­ber 12, 2023, that award letters are already being transmitted to the respective successful entities through the appropriate chan­nels.

“In furtherance of its man­date in Section 7 (e) and Section 105 (2) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021, the commission, in the third quarter of 2022, re­structured the NGFCP and re-launched the programme to align with the provisions of the PIA, as well as reflect prevailing econom­ic and operational realities.

“The commission notes that the significant success recorded in the NGFCP bid process was due to a series of focused engage­ments with relevant stakehold­ers including domestic inves­tors, international development agencies, oil and gas producers, technology providers and finan­cial institutions during the inter­vening months.

“The engagements by the commission were to galvanise and sustain interest in the pro­gramme, attract investments and stimulate participation by local and foreign entities.
“In response to the request for qualification (RFQ) issued in the fourth quarter of 2022, three hun­dred companies/entities indicat­ed interest in either revalidating their prequalification status as ex­isting participants or submitting statement of qualification (SOQ) as new participants.

“Following the evaluation of SOQs, a total of one hundred and thirty-nine applicants were deemed successful and awarded the qualified applicant status.

“Subsequently, in the first quarter of 2023, the commission issued the request for proposal (RFP) to enable qualified appli­cants to put together their re­spective proposals for any of the forty-nine flare sites on offer.

“Eighty-eight entities, com­prising individual companies and consortiums responded to the RFP and submitted a total of one hundred and thirty-seven proposals, each containing tech­nical, commercial and financial documentation for one or more of the forty-nine flare sites for either standalone or cluster de­velopment.

“The proposals were duly evaluated by the commission and approval secured to an­nounce 38 companies/entities as successful bidders for forty sites for standalone single flare site developments and four compa­nies/entities for nine sites to be developed as clusters; while some companies were also awarded reserved bidders status for the corresponding flare sites in case the preferred bidders failed to meet the terms and conditions contained in the RFP.

“At this stage, the preferred bidders would individually pro­ceed to execute the suite of com­mercial agreements with rele­vant parties and effect payment of the prescribed award fees to enable the grant of permit to ac­cess flare gas by the commission.

“KPMG, a global network of professional firms, has been ap­proved to partner with the com­mission in the implementation of the award to ensure successful outcome of the gas flare-out com­mercialisation process.

“The management congratu­lates the successful bidders and enjoins them to follow through with the final stages of the pro­gramme towards becoming per­mit holders and executors of vi­able projects that would harness flare gas for value creation”, read the statement in parts.