The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC),says it is planning a bidders’ conference/investors forum where stakeholders and investors in the country’s upstream petroleum sector will be offered the opportunity to seek clarifications on the programme.
Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, the NUPRC’s Chief Executive Officer, disclosed this in a statement,explained that the exercise is in furtherance of the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) of the Federal Government.
Komolaf noted that the conference, scheduled for February 2, 2023 in Abuja,adding that participants in next week’s event include qualified applicants, financiers, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, service providers, funders, and other interested entities.
“The Abuja conference which is programmed as a hybrid event with a virtual option will not only afford participants the opportunity to seek clarifications and provide valuable inputs on the programme requirements but will also facilitate engagements of qualified applicants with technology providers, prospective lenders, finance institutions; as well as foster business relationships and partnerships for the overall programme success.
“Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission in August 2022, re-launched the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (“NGFCP 2022”) to drive Nigeria’s commitment to end routine gas flaring within the decade, support the imperatives of the Nigeria Energy Transition Plan (ETP) and create value from waste.
“The NGFCP 2022 was restructured to reflect current gas flaring situation and prevailing operational realities in the industry, as well as changes in the socio-economic landscape due to the passage of time since the NGFCP was originally conceived in alignment with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA)” ,he stated.
He recalled that the PIA was enacted to redefine the legal, governance, regulatory, and fiscal structure of the Nigerian oil and gas industry for enhanced efficiency and value.
He said,in addition to establishing the Commission as the upstream technical and commercial regulator, the PIA provides a clear framework for flare elimination & monetisation in Nigeria which underpins the redesign of the NGFCP.
He stated that the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA) and its enhanced regulatory enablers have addressed the bottlenecks that hitherto impeded the expeditious implementation of the programme.
He added that the NGFCP 2022 is modified to deliver end-to-end value from flare gas commercialisation to both existing and new participants.
“In accordance with Section 105 (2) of the PIA and similar provisions enabling the Commission in that respect, the Commission commenced the Request for Qualification (RFQ) stage of the NGFCP 2022 through the issuance of Statement of Qualification (SOQ) to enable existing applicants to validate their status and for new investors to register to participate through the NGFCP website/ portal.
“The NGFCP 2022 recorded significant interest from stakeholders including existing participants, new investors, multi-lateral institutions, equipment manufacturers and the wider investment communities, both domestic and international.
“As at the SOQ submission deadline, three hundred (300) companies/entities had registered their interest to either revalidate their prequalification status as existing participants or submit Statement of Qualification (SOQ) as new participants.
Also, in line with the provisions of the RFQ, the SOQ evaluation exercise was conducted by the Commission where in a total of One Hundred and Thirty-Nine (139) applicants were deemed successful and awarded the Qualified Applicant status.