Oil and gas partners caution SMEs over procurement

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  |  International Joint Venture Partners operating in Uganda’s Oil and Gas Sector have cautioned the Country’s Small and Medium Enterprises to expect no compromise in procurement in the industry.    

They say they are committed to maintaining a high standard in the industry while sub-contracting to Ugandan companies intending to participate in the industry. 

The Companies said any forms of canvassing will lead to disqualification during bidding processes.

Pierre Real- Paris, the Total Exploration and Production Uganda Upstream Project Manager says domestic companies will be subjected to pre-qualification, single-sourced or granted selective bidding in order to participate in the industry.    

“Open bidding and selective bidding will be applied for companies bidding for works valued in excess of USD 500,000 while we are also allowed to single-source civil works valued at USD 100,000” he stated.   

In some of the contracting processes, contracts will be awarded two weeks after fulfilling requirements.    

Timothy Kigaikara, the Acting National Content Manager of CNOOC Uganda said Companies that will engage in forms of canvassing in statehouse or with top management of Joint Venture Partners will be eliminated from the bidding process under the Zero Tolerance to corruption and transparency principles.  

“We will expect all companies to be registered in the National Oil and Gas Supplier Database, fulfil all legal and tax requirements with the Country’s Revenue Authority, filed Audited Financial Statements and safety records among others” he explained.

The Partners warned that all bid documents should be filled and submitted in time after advertisement to prevent last-minute hustles. They were speaking to a group of 200 Small and Medium Enterprises gathered at a National Content Awareness Creation Clinic at Protea Hotel in Kampala on Thursday.

The firms said they still need continues capacity building to navigate the complex Oil and Gas Procurement Processes.

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