The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has said the contract for the award of the over $2.8bn trans-Nigeria gas pipeline project went through a bidding process that was advertised.
According to the oil firm, the two consortia, OilServe/Oando Consortium and Brentex/China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau Consortium, that recently signed contract agreements with the NNPC for the execution of the projects, were successful bidders at the end of the exercise.
Last week, the NNPC announced that arrangements were being concluded for the groundbreaking ceremony of the 40inch x 614km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline and stations in the weeks ahead.
It stated that contract agreements for the engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and financing for Lots 1&3 of the over $2.8bn project had been successful executed.
It also said measures had been put in place for the inauguration of what had been described as the single biggest gas pipeline project in the history of oil and gas operation in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, there had been concerns in some quarters as to whether the contract went through a bidding process before the recent agreement between the NNPC and the two consortia was executed in Abuja.
However, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, confirmed to SUNDAY PUNCH that there was an open bidding process before the Oilserve/Oando and Brentex/China Petroleum were picked as contractors for the project.
He said, “I can get the details of when it was advertised and the number of companies that were involved later. However, there is no contract that has been awarded by the NNPC that did not go through the required due process.”
Ughamadu maintained that the cost of the project was $2.8bn and noted that it would be fully financed by the contractors.
Ughamadu added that upon completion, 24 months from now, the AKK gas pipeline would enable connectivity between the East, West and North, which is currently non-existent.
He said the facility would also enable gas supply and utilisation to key commercial centres in the Northern corridor of Nigeria with the attendant positive spin-off on power generation and industrial growth.
The total value of the entire project, as approved by the Federal Executive Council at its 46th meeting on December 13, 2017, was $2.8bn.
The corporation said it had activated a gas reforms and implementation drive, requiring accelerated implementation of gas pipeline infrastructure development with specific focus on critical pipeline infrastructure to power plants and industries. (Punch)
