Nigerian National Petroleum Co. (NNPC) is seeking a company to provide operations and maintenance (O&M) work for the Port Harcourt Refinery.
The company issued a tender seeking a partner to provide services. The aim, NNPC said, was to secure a credible O&M company to “ensure reliability and sustainability” in meeting Nigerian fuel demand.
Port Harcourt includes two refineries, with total capacity of 210,000 barrels per day.
NNPC set out a number of items the O&M contractor would oversee. This included long and short-term planning, operations execution, monitoring, inspections, environmental management and turnaround maintenance.
The tender notice set out a number of requirements for bidders. Interested companies would need to show they had an average annual turnover of at least $2 billion per year for 2019 to 2022.
Contractors also needed to show they had refinery experience, including with fluid catalytic cracking and conversion units in addition to commissioning and turnaround work.
Furthermore, companies needed to provide at least three examples of O&M or engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) experience in Nigeria and another three in the broader continent.
Bidders must fill in a form by January 29, in order to register for the competition. The final submission of documents is due on February 26 when a livestream ceremony will be held to open the bids.
Refinery reconstruction
NNPC declared a milestone at the Port Harcourt facility on December 21. The company said it had reached mechanical completion on Area 5, marking the conclusion of the first phase of work. NNPC said it had committed to reaching this point by the end of 2023.
NNPC head Mele Kyari said the project would deliver “value to Nigerians”. With the first phase completed, the company will “get the other plants running in 2024”.
Nigeria picked Italy’s Tecnimont to carry out the Port Harcourt refinery work in 2021. The local managing director, Gian Fabio Del Cioppo, said the company would fulfil the terms of its contract. Tecnimont’s Port Harcourt work is worth $1.5 billion.
There was talk in 2021 that NNPC would bring in a contractor to handle O&M work at the plant. “We want to try a different model,” Kyari said at the time. He said Nigeria’s other two refineries would also work with contractors for O&M services.
While NNPC declared success at Port Harcourt, local newspaper Leadership said the first phase work had not actually been completed. The paper quoted an NNPC source as saying the refinery could not “make any products in the foreseeable future … the rehabilitation work has not been completed”.
Recommended for you
