The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is  seeking to engage an Operations & Maintenance (O&M) company to operate and maintain the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC).

This, the national oil firm said, is to ensure reliability and sustainability towards meeting the nation’s fuel supply and energy security obligations.

NNPC Limited disclosed this in a statement on Monday titled “Request For Expression Of Interest (EOI) for the Provision of Operations & Maintenance (O&M) Services for NNPC Limited Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC).”

To qualify, bidders must provide evidence of company’s registration and incorporation; detailed company profile and a signed letter of application; copy of the tax clearance certificate for the past three years; Employee Compensation Scheme (ECS) Clearance Certificate; and Certificate of Compliance with provisions of the Pension Reform Act.

Others are: Evidence of certificate of compliance with the provisions of industrial Training Fund (ITF) Act 2011; and relevant certificate of registration with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

Bidders are also to provide Audited Accounts for the past four (4) years (2019, 2020, 2021, & 2022) including Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement.

In addition, bidding companies must  provide evidence of their companies’ latest credit ratings and the name of the rating agency

They must also demonstrate a minimum average annual turnover of  at least $2 billion  for the financial years ending: 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively.

“Evidence of Company’s registration and Incorporation issued by the respective governing bods, Certified true Copy of the Certificate of incorporation obtained from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) within the last twelve months ending January 2024 and CAC status report generated within 3-months of bid submission (for national companies and similar documentation from the respective governing body for foreign companies), Particulars of Directors, certified true copies of statutory documents indicating ownership structure of company, name(s) of major shareholders and percentage shareboldings,” NNPC said.

“Provide detailed Company profile and a signed letter of application indicating interest on the company’s letterhead paper bearing amongst others, telephone number, email address and company’s full address clearly listing verifiable location (s) of your operational Head-office and spread of your branch offices(s) with a comprehensive company profile addressed to NNPC Ltd

“Copy of the Tax Clearance Certificate for the past three (3) years 2020, 2021 2022 (Receipts not acceptable) issued by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (for national companies and similar documentation from the respective governing body for foreign companies). Certification must be valid up to 31st December, 2023.

“Employee Compensation Scheme (ECS) Clearance Certificate as evidence of compliance with the provisions of the Employee Compensation Act 2010 issued by the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) expiring not earlier than 31 December, 2023 (for national companies and similar documentation from the respective governing body for foreign companies) (Receipts not acceptable).

“Certificate of Compliance with provisions of the Pension Reform Act, 2014 issued by the National Pension Commission expiring not earlier than 31st December 2023. (for national companies and similar documentation from the respective governing body for foreign companies.”

The energy giant further listed as eligibility criteria as follows: “Evidence of certificate of compliance with the provisions of industrial Training Fund (ITF) Act 2011 issued by the ITF expiring not earlier than 31st December, 2023 (for national companies and similar documentation from the respective governing body for foreign companiest

“Relevant certificate of registration with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) expiring not earlier than 31st December, 2023. (for national companies and similar documentation from the respective governing body for foreign companies).”

All documents must be submitted on or before 12 noon, February 26, 2024.

Rehabilitation work has been ongoing at the refinery for over two years. In December 2023, NNPC Limited announced that it has achieved mechanical completion of rehabilitation work on Area 5 Plant of the refinery

Speaking during an inspection tour of the rehabilitation project, which also coincided with the 15th Refineries’ Rehabilitation Steering Committee Meeting, the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Limited,  Mele Kyari, had said as of December 15, 2023, 84.4 percent of Area 5 Plant, a key component of the Rmrefinery, and 77.4 percent of the entire rehabilitation project have been completed.

“In our quest to ensure that this refinery is re-streamed to continue to deliver value to Nigerians, we made a promise that we will reach a mechanical completion of phase one of the rehabilitation project by the end of December and get the other plants running in 2024. Today, we have kept those commitments,” Kyari had stated.

In his remarks, the Chairman of NNPC Limited Board, Chief Pius Akinyelure described the milestone as “historic”, stressing that the board was proud of the staff and management of the refinery.

“We are just starting. We want to be at the highest level of production so that we will keep the prices of petroleum prices in the country stable in order to give comfort to our people and generate more revenue for our country,” Akinyelure had  noted.

Also speaking, the  Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, had said the milestone is another landmark of the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu