Barring any last minute hiccups, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) may announce the names of companies qualified for the lifting of the country’s crude oil for 2017 by mid-December.
However, there are serious indications that more local firms may be in the expected list considering the ongoing peace moves by the federal government with the militant Niger Delta groups.
Industry sources revealed that the 2017 term contracts could see more Nigerian companies added to the list in the light of renewed violence in the oil-producing Niger Delta region.
A statement by Mele Kyari, NNPC’s group general manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division said
“The crude tender will close on November 24 and we expect to have new contracts in place before the end of the second week of December.”
Known as crude oil term contracts, it involves the export of around 1.17 million b/d of the nation’s crude; out of the 2.2 million b/d the country produces. They are then sold by contract holders to end-users, refiners and other buyers.
Last month, NNPC issued guidelines for companies wishing to participate in the lifting of Nigerian crude for next year.
According to the offer document, bids for these contracts, valid for a year from January 1, are to be submitted by 12:00 Nigerian time (1100 GMT) November 24.
Currently, 27 companies are involved in the 2016 crude term contracts, including both local and foreign companies.
Oil groups Total, Shell and ExxonMobil, trading firms Trafigura and Vitol, India’s IOC and HPCL, China’s Sinopec, and indigenous trader, Sahara Energy, are current term contract holders.
