Post by Ikechukwu Arinze

Why do good oil and gas companies lose tenders?

Sometimes, it has nothing to do with technical capability.

A company can have the right vessels, experienced personnel, impressive equipment and a strong project history yet still lose an opportunity.

Why?

Because tenders are rarely won by capability alone.

They are won through compliance, positioning, responsiveness and commercial discipline.

One missing document can create a problem.

One misunderstood requirement can weaken a submission.

One poorly presented methodology can make a technically strong company look unprepared.

An unrealistic commercial assumption can destroy an otherwise competitive bid.

Even past experience needs careful positioning. Listing ten projects means little if none clearly demonstrates relevance to the client’s requirement.

This is something I have learned from working around business development and tendering:

A tender submission should not simply prove that your company can do the job.

It should make the evaluator comfortable choosing your company.

That requires understanding the client’s actual problem.

It requires reading tender documents beyond the pricing schedule.

It requires identifying evaluation criteria early.

It requires building a response around what matters most.

And perhaps most importantly:

You must treat every tender as a commercial strategy rather than merely an administrative exercise.

Good companies lose tenders.

Prepared companies lose tenders too.

However, companies that consistently study why they lose eventually become much harder to beat.

#OilAndGas #BusinessDevelopment #Tendering #Procurement #Nigeria #Energy #NigerianContent #Connectize