Yemisi Izuora
Major insurance companies are vying to bid for key assets being thrown open by the
Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL which has announced bid for its oil assets and liabilities for the 2024/2025 period.
The NNPCL said this in a notice posted on X (formerly Twitter) inviting insurance companies to show interest in the bid.
The Company said the contract for the insurance of its assets and liabilities would be awarded to the successful bidder(s) for a period of 12 months.
According to the post, there would be a Consolidated Insurance Policy to include insurance of energy assets such as production platforms, oil wells, refineries, depots, pumping stations, jetties, terminals, gas metering stations, vessels, power plants, buildings among others owned, controlled or operated by NNPC Limited.
Based on the eligibility criteria, all interested Insurance Companies seeking to be considered must be a Limited Liability Company registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (C.A.C) in Nigeria and licensed by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to transact general insurance business.
The insurance companies must also have a minimum Paid up Capital as approved by NAICOM for the different classes of Insurances and must be a good corporate citizen of Nigeria that pays its taxes as at when due.
The companies bidding for the insurance coverage of the oil and gas assets must have also
fulfill all statutory requirements to operate as an Insurer in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry.
In submitting the bid, the companies must accompany their application with Certified True Copy of the Certificate of Incorporation obtained from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) within the last twelve months ending November 2023 and CAC status report generated within 3-months of bid submission.
They are also to submit Certified True Copy by National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) of their current
Licence as an Insurer to transact general insurance business within the last twelve months ending November 2023.
The Company’s published Annual Audited Accounts and Reports for the years ending 2020, 2021
and 2022 must also be submitted with the application as well as NAICOM’s approval of Annual Audited Accounts and Returns for underwriting year ending 31st December, 2022.
Similarly, a copy of the Tax Clearance Certificate issued by the Federal Inland Revenue Service for the past
three years 2020, 2021 and 2022 must go with the bid application.
The NNPCL had on January 27 last year secured a $5bn corporate finance commitment from the African Export Import Bank to fund major investments in Nigeria’s Upstream sector.
The move is a major milestone achievement in the quest for the company to scale up investments in the oil and gas industry following the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act.
Under the NNPC Ltd funding strategy for selected upstream investments, the Company had raised between $3.5bn and $5bn as corporate finance to fund major upstream investments.
The NNPC’s strategy would also see the company investing in assets to address integrity, bottlenecking and growth issues including rig-less activities, and drilling campaigns in the oil industry.
The funding was also used to finance part of the NNPC’s investment including acquisition of interest in quality upstream oil and gas producing assets