NUPRC rallies investors, stakeholders for sustainable value creation

In furtherance of the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) of the Federal Government, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) will hold a Bidders’ Conference/Investors Forum in Abuja on 2 February. The event will afford stakeholders and investors in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector the opportunity to seek clarifications on the programme.

The conference is being organised barely a month after a similar forum was held in Lagos for interested stakeholders and investors in the proposed mini bid round for deep offshore oil fields. 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.

Last August, NUPRC re-launched the 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).

According to NUPRC Chief Executive, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, 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. In addition to establishing the commission as the upstream technical and commercial regulator, the PIA provides a clear framework for flare elimination and monetisation in Nigeria which underpins the redesign of the NGFCP.

The PIA and its enhanced regulatory enablers have addressed the bottlenecks that impeded the expeditious implementation of the programme. 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 NUPRC commenced the Request for Qualification (RFQ) stage of the NGFCP 2022 through the issuance of Statement of Qualification 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 Statement of Qualification (SOQ) submission deadline, 300 companies/entities had registered their interest to either revalidate their prequalification status as existing participants or submit SOQ as new participants.

Also, in line with the provisions of the RFQ, the SOQ evaluation exercise was conducted by the commission where 139 applicants were deemed successful and awarded the Qualified Applicant status.

Komolafe further said: “To that end, and in reliance on Section 105 (2) of the PIA and similar provisions enabling the commission in that respect, the commission has published the list of Qualified Applicants who will proceed to the Request for Proposal (RFP) phase of the NGFCP 2022. (Details of the SOQ evaluation exercise can be accessed on the NUPRC Website and NGFCP Portal via www.nuprc.gov.ng and ngfcp.nuprc.gov.ng, respectively)”.