Bisola David
The Federal Government announced on Thursday that a total of 139 investors have expressed interest in profiting from the 48 flare sites located across the nation’s gas flares.
According to The Punch, this information was presented during the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialization Programme Bidders Conference and Investors Forum in 2022, which was organized to inform all qualified applicants, partners, sponsors, and technology providers on the format of the “Request for Proposal” for the flare sites.
Further instructions on the program of activities were also delivered at the forum, which also allowed the government a chance to hear from everyone who participated and compile their input in order to improve the RFP phase.
The chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, gave a speech at the event in which he congratulated all qualified applicants on their performance during the Statement of Qualification stage of the bid process and emphasized their ability to profit from gas flares.
The programme got over 300 applications from interested people, he added, but only 139 were determined to be qualified or successful after the evaluation exercise carried out in accordance with the RFQ announced criteria.
“Therefore, your victory on the SOQ stage is no small accomplishment for all qualified applicants. However, it was only the beginning of the trip; your ultimate goal should be to submit a strong and competitive proposal that includes concrete evidence of your ability to carry out the flare monetisation projects in accordance with the RFP’s terms”, he said.
Because the NGFCP “checks the box on many fronts,” Komolafe said the program was a “very defining event” in the history of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
He continued, “In addition to preventing the harmful effects of gas flaring on the environment, the initiative also puts an end to the willful waste of our most valuable economic resource.
“Natural gas has taken on a stature of major importance as the bridging fuel for many oil and gas producing nations in today’s carbon-constrained world, where fossil fuel is becoming less and less popular in view of challenges of climate change.”
