Engineers keen to tap into oil and gas opportunities

OIL AND GAS 

Engineers and building contractors have asked oil companies to provide them timely and adequate information on available tenders to bid for.

Moses Kitaka, a representative of the Uganda National Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors (UNABEC) without prior information engineering and building contractors may not be able to get opportunities in the industry. "We want oil companies to share with us their annual procurement plans so that we prepare," Kitaka said.

This was during a conference on the opportunities in the oil and gas sector held at Mestil Hotel, Kampala. The conference, organised by the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) in partnership with other government agencies, was part of the efforts to prepare local firms for the development phase of the oil and gas sector with planned construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) and the Oil refinery, among others.

The PAU allayed the fears of local engineering and construction companies being locked out of tenders due to the large size bundle of contracts. Peninah Aheebwa, the PAU Director, Technical Support Services called on companies to register on the National Supplier Database, which is mandatory for companies that would like to supply goods and services in the oil and gas industry.

 "Regulation 10 subsection 3 of the Petroleum National Content Regulations states that every licensee, operator, contractor and subcontractor shall provide additional and timely information and reduce the size and complexity of the scope of works by unbundling of contracts and formulate work packages which are affordable by Ugandan companies, Ugandan citizens and registered entities," she quoted.

Robert Kasande, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development asked local companies to comply with the required standards or risk missing out on the opportunities once the Final Investment Decision (FID) is taken.

"FID will surely be taken. It may be tomorrow or the other day but whatever time it comes, we should prepare and ensure that whatever you take from here, you put into practice. That way, when the time for bidding comes, you are ready to participate," he said.

The International Oil Companies said many opportunities exist for the local firms but failure to submit proper tender and bid documents had left them out of mega contracts offered. While presenting on the procurement strategy for the upcoming Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) phase,  Mathew Kyaligonza from CNOOC Uganda Limited offered free advice on how to have a successful bid.

"If you want to have a successful bid, do not submit generic tender responses; match responses to questions asked, separate proposals, especially Price from Un-priced Commercial Proposal, complete the bid proposal and submit on time," he advised.

The financial entities present promised the local Ugandan companies financing options that would lead to a mutual benefit to both parties.

Brian Tahinduka, the Sector Head for Energy and Infrastructure at Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited revealed that Stanbic Bank was ready to fund up to $54m (sh200b) for a single project.

"As long as you have the capacity and capability, we have the money. We are the only institution with a unique triple A rated Mark in Africa for such huge projects," Tahinduka said.

The bank is also currently undertaking capacity building for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) under their incubator programme to prepare them for the opportunities in the oil and gas sector.