- 132 companies bid for crude oil lifting contracts
Kasim Sumaina in Abuja
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Thursday said it has saved $2.2 billion through the Direct-Sale-Direct-Purchase (DSDP) scheme of petroleum products supply since its inception in 2016.
This was disclosed by the Group Managing Director of the corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, at the public opening of bids for the 2019 term-contract for lifting crude oil and petroleum products under the DSDP scheme held in Abuja.
Baru in a statement by the Director General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Abuja, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, said “29.5million metric tonnes or 39.6 billion litres of petroleum products had been supplied under the scheme, representing 90 per cent of the nation’s requirements.”
Highlighting the other benefits of the scheme, the NNPC boss said, “its competitive pricing framework which is lower than the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency’s (PPPRA) benchmark, led to about 84 per cent reduction in products demurrage cost.”
He explained that the public bid opening exercise was in keeping with President Muhammadu Buhari’s transparency and anti-corruption stance, which the corporation had imbibed and championed relentlessly under his stewardship.
He said the objective of the DSDP scheme was to engage reputable and qualified companies and ensure that selection of off-takers was carried out in a transparent and accountable manner in compliance with the Public Procurement and Nigerian Content Acts.
Baru noted that the ultimate aim of the scheme was to ensure value optimisation to the federation.
The bid round was witnessed by officials of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Bureau of Public Procurement and other Non-Governmental Oganisations (NGOS).
