A total of 223 local and foreign firms on Tuesday offered to sell and purchase over 7,000 metric tons (mt) of natural gas liquids in the domestic and export markets.
The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, who was represented by the Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, Engr. Saidu Mohammed presided over the 2019/2021 Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) bid opening ceremony in Abuja.
The Department of Petroleum Resource (DPR), Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and others transparency organisations monitored the transparency of the exercise in Abuja.
According to Baru, the NNPC had a volume of gas that was beyond Nigeria’s domestic demand and was poised to exceed the 7,000metric tons (Mt) dedicated for offer in the last exercise because of the local market.
He added that the corporation was also compelling the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) to supply its products to the local market even as the nation’s refineries were underway with gas and more from the private refineries.
Asked to state the volume of gas that the bidders were jostling for in the exercise, he said: “I can assure you that we have the volume that is beyond the demand of this nation. we had dedicated 7,000Mt before and we are increasing that for the local market. It is not the only source of LPG available to us.
“NLNG is also compelled to supply some of the products in the domestic market. And with our refineries coming up again and other private refineries, LPG supply should be an easy issue in this nation.”
Earlier, he said as a Corporation, the current pursuit was to continuously grow Nigeria’s domestic gas supply and utilisation while also maximising value from its unutilised knock-off condensates and natural gas liquid resources.
The GMD explained that in the next months, the corporation’s strategy was to expand domestic LPG supply from the established local sources while also encouraging investments in storage, marketing and distribution infrastructure.
Baru said: “Through a transparent competitive bidding and evaluation process, we intend to enlist companies with proven investments in gas utilisation, storage, distribution and marketing infrastructure.”
