Business
42 Coys Emerge Winners Of Gas Flare Commercialisation Licences
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has announced that a total of 42 bidders have emerged successful in the 2022 Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) auction process.
Wile announcing the outcome of the bidding exercise on Wednesday, the Commission said it has commenced the process of issuance of letters of award to the 42 companies/entities declared successful.
In a statement, NUPRC management said the 42 successful bidders were awarded 49 Flare Sites put forward during the 2022 NGFCP Auction process.
Thirty-eight of the companies/entities, the Commission said, have been awarded 40 Flare Sites for standalone single flare site development, while four are awarded nine sites to be developed as clusters.
It, however, said “Reserve bidders” status has also been accorded some companies for the corresponding flare sites in case the preferred bidders fail to meet the terms and conditions stipulated in the RFP.
The Commission continued that award letters are already being transmitted to the respective successful entities through the appropriate channels.
The successful 42 winners emerged out of 300 companies/entities that indicated interest in either revalidating their prequalification status as existing participants, or submitting Statement of Qualification (SOQ) as new participants.
In furtherance of its mandate in Section 7 (e) and Section 105 (2) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021, the Commission, in the third quarter of 2022, restructured the NGFCP and re-launched the programme to align with the provisions of the PIA, as well as reflect prevailing economic and operational realities.
It noted that the significant success recorded in the NGFCP bid process was due to a series of focused engagements with relevant stakeholders including domestic investors, international development agencies, oil and gas producers, technology providers and financial institutions during the intervening months.
“The engagements by the Commission were to galvanise and sustain interest in the programme, attract investments and stimulate participation by local and foreign entities.
“In response to the Request for Qualification (RFQ) issued in the fourth quarter of 2022, 300 companies/entities indicated interest in either revalidating their prequalification status as existing participants or submitting Statement of Qualification (SOQ) as new participants.
“Following the evaluation of SOQs, a total of 139 applicants were deemed successful and awarded the Qualified Applicant status.
“Subsequently, in the first quarter of 2023, the Commission issued the Request for Proposal (RFP) to enable qualified applicants to put together their respective proposals for any of the 49 flare sites on offer”, the Commission explained.
It also noted that 88 entities, comprising individual companies and consortiums responded to the RFP and submitted a total of 137 proposals, each containing technical, commercial and financial documentation for one or more of the 49 flare sites for either standalone or cluster development.
The proposals were duly evaluated by the Commission and approval secured
to announce 38 companies/entities as successful bidders for 40 sites for standalone single flare site developments, and four companies/entities for nine sites to be developed as clusters.
Some companies were also awarded Reserve Bidders status for the corresponding flare sites in case the Preferred Bidders fail to meet the terms and conditions contained in the RFP.
At this stage, the Preferred Bidders would individually proceed to execute the Suite of Commercial Agreements with relevant parties and effect payment of the prescribed award fees to enable the grant of Permit to Access Flare Gas by the Commission.
KPMG, a global network of professional firms, has been approved to partner with the Commission in the implementation of the award to ensure successful outcome of the gas flare-out commercialisation process.
“The Management congratulates the successful bidders and enjoins them to follow through with the final stages of the programme towards becoming Permit Holders and executors of viable projects that would harness flare gas for value creation”, NUPRC said.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
