An online tendering system for oil transactions is to commence by the end of the present Iranian calendar year (March 2015), the deputy for engineering affairs at the oil ministry said, IRNA reported Sunday.
More than 2,000 companies have registered for inclusion on the oil ministry's vendors list by an October 23 deadline. This would enable them to bid on online oil transactions. A list of 1,200 companies has been approved for final evaluation, Seyyed Emad Hosseini said.
Additionally, companies will be grouped in four major categories based on their particular products and services.
A process to assess eligibility is underway by several technical and trade committees at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) and the National Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC). The vendors list brings together the names of firms certified by the oil ministry to bid, and will allow the whole process of oil supply to be carried out electronically, according to Hosseini.
Last month, a list of names of firms certified by the oil ministry to bid for tenders was prepared on a trial basis.
Compilation of a consolidated vendors list by the ministry is a move toward establishing an online tendering system, which would do away with scattered vendors lists, prevent mismanagement and fraud, and increase transparency of transactions.
