NUPRC relaunches commercial gas flare programme, opens renewed bids

By Innocent Obasi

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NURPC) has announced the formal relaunch of the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP 2022).

Gbenga Komolafe, the commission’s chief executive, who disclosed this in a statement, recalled that the programme, which was conceived in 2016, “is one of the strategic initiatives of the Federal Government to drive the attainment of zero routine gas flaring by 2035 and net zero emissions by 2060 in the country, consistent with Mr. President’s declaration at COP 26”.

The commission said that in order to hasten the effective completion of this project, it is leveraging institutional experience and the renewed focus of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.

“A comprehensive audit of the flare gas portfolio and facilities’ disposition across the industry, as well as an in-depth assessment of the prevailing operational realities in producing areas and changes in the wider macro-economic environment has been carried out,” Komolafe said.

This is intended to map out the optimum path forward to the programme, he said.

To achieve this, the Commission in the statement announced the release of the “Request for Qualification (RFQ)” and the “Notice of Programme Relaunch” to indicate the commencement of the relaunched bidding process for NGFCP 2022.

According to the statement, the RFQ document is now available on NUPRC website, dedicated NGFCP website and NGFCP portal.

The updated guidelines provided in the RFQ will help investors package their Statement of Qualification (SOQ) submissions and enable them to go on to the next phase of the programme.

“It is important to state that existing applicants would derive value from their previous endeavours on the NGFCP. All such applicants who previously submitted bids under the NGFCP would be deemed pre-qualified once they meet the basic requirements for status validation as stated in the RFQ,” the statement said.

“The NGFCP 2022 is indeed a hybrid of opportunities – preserving value for existing Bidders and expanding avenues for new investors to participate in this first-of-its kind flare auction programme,” it said.

The announcement of the winners is scheduled for December 2022, according to the statement, and the auction process has been simplified to permit an accelerated delivery schedule for this exercise.

“This is therefore a call to all existing applicants, bidders, new investors, technology providers, equipment suppliers and the global investment community to take advantage of the immense opportunities that Nigeria’s flare gas offers for guaranteed end-to-end value,” the commission said.

It pledged that it would continue to foster collaboration with well-meaning stakeholders to enable and promote growth of the Nigerian oil and gas sector for the benefit of operators, industry players, investors, and in overriding national interest.