By Francis Ogwo
The planned rehabilitation of pipelines and terminals of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has attracted 96 companies from various jurisdictions which have shown interest in bidding for the contracts.
The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Kennie Obateru, made this public at a virtual bid opening exercise held at the NNPC headquarters in Abuja on Friday for the pre-qualification of companies for the contract.
Obateru said the infrastructures include critical pipelines to depots and terminals, as the firms would rehabilitate the facilities through the build, operate and transfer financing model.
Speaking further, Obateru said the public opening of the bids for the contract was in keeping with the NNPC management’s commitment to transparency and accountability in its processes and transactions.
In her remarks, the Managing Director, Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company, a subsidiary of NNPC, Ada Oyetunde, noted that the exercise was in conformity with the mandate of the Federal Government to prioritise the rehabilitation of critical downstream infrastructure across the country.
The facilities to be rehabilitated by successful bidders according to Oyetunde include critical pipelines for crude oil supply to the refineries and evacuation of refined products, depots and terminals.
Oyetunde noted that the objective was to get them ready to support the refineries when they become operational after their rehabilitation.
In her words: “An open tender for pre-qualification of interested companies was published in August 2020 in the national dailies for the rehabilitation of NNPC downstream critical pipelines and associated depots and terminal infrastructure.
“This was through Finance BOT to cover the four lots namely, Lot 1: Port Harcourt Refinery related infrastructure; Lot 2: Warri Refinery related infrastructure; Lot 3: Kaduna Refinery related infrastructure; and Lot 4: System 2B related infrastructure.”
She also shared the view that the BOT arrangement would provide a reliable pipeline network and automated storage facilities for effective crude feed, product storage and evacuation from the nation’s refineries post-revamp.
