Nigeria’s state oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has reduced the number of off-takers that will emerge after a competitive bid for the proposed 2015/16 crude oil term contract to 16 from 43, it said on Thursday.
NNPC, which has been announcing a raft of measures aimed at rooting out corruption in Nigeria’s oil sector, also said it had extended invitations to Mobil and Forte Oil, in addition to an earlier published list, to bid for the new proposed offshore processing agreement.
The NNPC in a statement by its spokesman, Ohi Alegbe, said the plan is part of the measures to optimize the marketing of Nigeria’s crude oil and secure new market potentials.
“In the days ahead we shall place advertisement for the 2015/2016 Term Contracts and the publication will run for one month in major National and International print media to ensure effective message penetration. Later the guidelines for the selection of new off-takers would be published and subsequently a special bid evaluation committee would be constituted to conduct due diligence on successful applicants”, the Corporation explained.
The NNPC also clarified that apart from the earlier listed industry operators whose performance trajectory impressed Management to invite them to bid for the proposed Offshore Processing Agreements, OPA, the Corporation is extending the invitation for competitive bidding to Forte Oil and Mobil, among others.
“We are throwing the tender process open for competitive bidding by strong industry players with track records of integrity and financial strength to execute the project,’’ the NNPC said.