The General Directorate of Petroleum: Quickly launch the tender for the continuity of energy production in the EDL

The General Directorate of Petroleum issued the following statement: “After the General Directorate of Petroleum sent the duly signed time books to carry out public tenders,

Which aims to ensure the need for EDL for diesel and fuel oil, In order to guarantee the principle of transparency and make known to the Lebanese public opinion the result of the course of compliance with the terms of reference, the General Directorate of Petroleum summarizes the details of the exchange of notes with the Bidding Department, noting that part of the messages exchanged have been published by the Bidding Department in the media, in contradiction to the rules followed in administrative correspondence. Since we have nothing to hide, hence this statement.

On 10/10/2018, and by mandate of the Council of Ministers, the interested department deposited in the Bidding Department the draft books of the aforementioned bases, in their complete form, for their review and administrative notes, in accordance with the requirements of current laws and regulations.

The path of successive responses to the management of tenders began, from the sending of notes and inquiries to the request for amendments, some administrative, others technical and fragmented, and the General Directorate of Petroleum on each occasion responded to the inquiries and took some of the notes received and held meetings with the Bidding Department to streamline the process. Preparation of condition books.

From here, the Directorate is surprised by this unjustified behavior, since the Bidding Department has competence and experience in preparing the books of special conditions, and it was expected that the General Directorate of Petroleum would deliver its full notes at once, to introduce the required modifications and additions to launch public tenders as soon as possible.

The Directorate wonders if this administration deals in the same way with the other departments when taking notes in the condition books prepared by it and uses the same method to address the same method that it used in its last letter to the Directorate General of Petroleum on 11/30/2020, which exceeded the principles of administrative and legal communication.

An indication that the tender management notes have gone beyond the administrative notes to the terms of reference, starting with:
– Interference in the technical specifications of fuels that can only be determined by the manufacturers of the electrical laboratories, which is the authority in charge of setting the specifications and not others, which represents a violation of the competence of the administration in technical matters .
– Ignore the decision of the cabinet for the purchase of fuel oil and gas oil “through an international tender in which international oil companies participate,” according to the concept expressed in Cabinet Resolution No. 4 dated 02/07/ 2020, without introducing secondary third parties, which inevitably leads to an increase in Prices, eliminating the elements of transparency required and violating laws and government decisions. The surprise was the bidding department’s insistence on involving Lebanese companies under the pretext of opening the door to competition, on other occasions to approve a local bidder and on other occasions to allow local companies to enter through ” joint ventures “with international companies without a justified added value arising. In all cases, this matter expressly violates the decision of the Council of Ministers.
– His repeated insistence on lowering the ceiling of the conditions imposed on companies that wish to participate in the public tender, pointing out that the General Directorate of Petroleum had raised the ceiling of those conditions in order to ensure that a supplier that respects its obligations and have solvency is insured in these difficult circumstances, especially when supplying fuel for production Electricity is national, and the company that will supply the fuel to EDL must be fully responsible for the continuous obtaining of fuel for the production of energy, and the administration has forced a reduction of this limit to speed up the launch of the tender and not to pretend to obstruct it.

Unfortunately, however, it seems that the head of the Bidding Department, using the method of frequent observations and suggestions and their succession, has taken the position of the judge and the ruler to prepare the condition books, and all this leads to hindering the completion of these books and the launch of the tender, and therefore interrupt the operation of public facilities.

Finally, based on the above, and given that the supreme interest of the country and energy security are above all else, the General Directorate of Petroleum wishes to manage the tenders, and after sending the condition books in accordance with the bases , assume their responsibilities and exercise their functions and role and launch the tender as soon as possible for the continuity of production. The power belongs to the Lebanon Electricity Corporation and in order to provide electricity to all Lebanese regions. “