The Nigerian National Petroleum Company and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, on Monday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with international oil companies to reduce contracting cycle in the sector to an optimal level of not more than 180 working days.
All parties signed the MoU at the headquarters of the national oil firm in Abuja, according to a statement issued by the management of the company.
An optimised contracting cycle was expected to improve the ease of doing business, reduce cost and drive efficiency, which would eventually translate to production growth, increased revenues, and ultimately improved profitability.
The MoU was also expected to contribute significantly to the double-digit economic growth rate agenda of the Federal Government and generate value for all stakeholders, including investors, companies, host communities and Nigeria.
Key benefits of the framework in the MoU, according to NNPCL, included a reduction of the contracting cycle for open competitive tender, selective tender, and single sourcing tender to 180, 178, and 128 working days respectively.
This was in contrast with the current best effort performance of 327, 333, and 185 working days respectively.
The Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, said signing the agreement had brought exciting times for the nation’s oil and gas industry, and stood as a bold testimony that the company was plunging into the future of hope, productivity and success.
Kyari, who was represented at the occasion by NNPCL’s Executive Vice President, Upstream, Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, added that with oil and gas as the bedrock of Nigeria’s economy, there was need to get the contracting process in the Industry right so as to get the economy back on track.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, described the MoU as a way forward and a critical step towards enhancing the nation’s crude oil production.
