Nigerian govt pre-qualifies 139 firms to sell flared gas, after N275.1bn wasted in 10 months

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has announced it has pre-qualified 139 firms that will be permitted to commercialize flared gas.

The firms selected were among those that applied in its advertised Request for Qualification (RFQ) phase of the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) 2022 in line with the accelerated delivery schedule.

NUPRC in a statement on Tuesday evening also said the RFP was issued to enable interested parties to register their interest to participate in the programme.

The programme was suspended following the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act ostensibly to align it with the law.

Three hundred companies registered their interest to revalidate their prequalification status and submit Statement of Qualification (SOQ) as existing bidders and new participants.

After an evaluation, conducted by the Bid Evaluation Team (BET), a total of 139 applicants were deemed successful and awarded the Qualified Applicant status in line with the provisions of the RFQ, the statement said.

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“To that end, and in consideration of Section 105 (2) of the PIA and similar provisions enabling the Commission in that respect, NUPRC hereby publishes the list of Qualified Applicants who will proceed to the Request for Proposal (RFP) phase of the NGFCP 2022” said the statement.

Commercialization of gas flared for years has been a strong topic of discussion especially when the federal government complains of poor revenue.

The amount of gas flared could serve as a reliable source of revenue and also power generation.

For example, data from National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) showed that in 10 months (January and October 2022) the oil industry flared 170.5 billion standard cubic feet (BSCF) of gas.

The value of total gas flared in the ten-month period stood at $596.9 million according to NOSDRA.

Going by the investors and exporters window official exchange rate of N461 to a dollar, this translates to a loss of N275.1 billion potential revenue to Nigeria.

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