Nigeria is determined to cut the contracting cycle –the time between the bidding process and the actual award of contracts– in the country’s oil and gas industry from the current average period of two to four years, to just six months, Premium Times reported.

According to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, the long contracting cycle in the industry is responsible for the high cost per barrel of the crude oil produced by Nigeria, compared to other member countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC. The Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria, PETAN, Emeka Ene, said recently that Nigeria current spends an average of $30 to $35 to produce a barrel of oil.

It was also reported by All Africa that the Minister, who was represented by a Group General Manager, Sajebor Stephen, said the contract approving entities were already implementing a new strategy to develop a single contracting procedure which would soon be unveiled for the industry. It would help, as he said, to eliminate problems associated with multiplicity of bidders, application of manual tools in bid evaluation and divergent tender requirements by approving entities.