PHRC EPC Rehabilitation Contract Tender Separating Facts From Fiction by NNPC

The Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has refuted allegations of wrong doing in Award of contract.

To this end the Corporation says,  “NNPC wishes to condemn in the strongest term possible, the unwarranted attack on the well-conceived and appropriately articulated rehabilitation programme of the nation’s refineries by some nondescript characters under the questionable cognomen of “Buharites Solidarity Project” just to attract undue attention and relevance”.

“Dripping with prejudice, the group in the publication laboured albeit unsuccessfully to cast aspersion on the entire system in an  unmistakable attempt at disrupting the ongoing process for the award of the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery”.

“A cursory perusal of the said publication would reveal a poorly choreographed attempt to create a wedge of discord between the Management and Board of the NNPC by spewing a cocktail of illogical tales and obvious lies”, said NNPC.

“It is a matter of public knowledge that the Management of the Corporation under the able leadership of  Mele Kyari has demonstrated an impeccable capacity for transparency and accountability in the operation of the National Oil Company”.

“Needless to highlight that the processes and procedures leading up to the bid cum tendering exercise for the award of the PHRC Rehabilitation EPC contract have not only remained in the realm of public scrutiny but have been heavily subjected to all statutory provisions as provided in the Public Procurement Act and with all relevant agencies of government carried along.

“For the purpose of clarity and in deference to the over 200 million Nigerians who we regard as our shareholders, it is necessary to provide a timeline of activities below:

“In the Beginning, On October, 2016, NNPC sought approval to engage Original Refinery Builders (ORB), JGC Corporation, to rehabilitate the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) to optimal performance and commercial profitability.

“JGC Corporation instead proposed a joint execution approach and thus nominated Messrs Tecnimont SpA Italy (TCM) as its representatives on the Rehabilitation project”, stated NNPC.

NNPC said, “the submissions by the Messrs Technimont was extremely exorbitant as a result of that single sourcing strategy used. Therefore, NNPC sought and obtained Mr. President’s gracious approval on 22nd May, 2020, for the change of strategy from Original Refinery Builders (ORBs) to selective tendering of Global reputable Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) Companies including the ORBs to tender for the Refineries rehabilitation projects”.

“The NNPC Tenders Board (NTB) on Friday, 19th June, 2020 approved the shortlist of Thirty (30) Global Reputable EPC companies including the ORBs; ranked by a globally recognized resource tool of the Refining and Petrochemical Middle East for the selective tendering of the EPC phase of PHRC Rehabilitation Project”, stated the Corporation.