Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has announced that Nigeria will cut the contracting cycle in the its oil and gas industry from the current average period of two to four years, to just six months.
Speaking in Calabar at the Nigerian Content Policy workshop organized by the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Kachikwu said the long contracting cycle in the industry was responsible for the high cost per barrel of the crude oil produced by Nigeria compared to other member countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Represented by a Group General Manager, Sajebor Stephen, the Minister said the contract approving entities were already implementing a new strategy to develop a single contracting procedure for the petroleum industry.
Kachikwu who also doubles as the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC), said a number of Nigerians have been motivated by the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act to acquire high cost marine vessels and other facilities like oil rigs for use in the industry.
The Minister said provisions of the Act would seek to give preference to Nigerian-owned asset, particularly in tenders related to utilization of rigs and marine vessels in the industry.
If you must know, a contracting cycle is the duration between the initiation of the bidding process through registration of contractors and actual award of contracts for projects executed in the oil and gas industry.
