B -- MOROCCO: GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FEASIBILITY STUDY

Notice Date

August 24, 2001

Contracting Office

USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131

ZIP Code

22209-2131

Response Due

October 1, 2001

Point of Contact

POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009

Description

Mrs. Amina Benkhadra, Director General, Office National de Recherches et d'Exploitations Petrolieres (ONAREP), 34, Avenue Al Fadila, 10050 Rabat, Morocco, Telephone: (212-37) 79-60-38/79-50-05/28-19-07, Fax: (212-37) 28-16-26/28-16-34, Email: benkhadra@onarep.com The Grantee invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop a feasibility study on a geographic information system (GIS) and associated information technology (IT). The Office National de Recherches et d'Exploitations Petrolieres (ONAREP) is a public organization under the administrative supervision of Morocco's Ministry of Energy and Mines, with a mandate of coordinating and managing all activities related to exploration and production of hydrocarbons in Morocco. It explores for oil and natural gas in Morocco, and operates small onshore gas/condensate fields. In addition, ONAREP is responsible for investment promotion in attracting foreign, including U.S. oil companies. ONAREP negotiates the terms of reconnaissance (seismic) contracts and petroleum agreements, and applies jointly with its partners (foreign oil companies) for exploration and production licenses and permits. It also maintains all available geophysical data and offers it to interested outside companies free of charge. ONAREP plans to establish and acquire a GIS consistent with standards of international oil companies. Such a system would modernize and integrate data management to improve ONAREP's exploration and production activities. The implementation of modern GIS-based information management for petroleum and natural gas exploration and production in Morocco is essential in order for ONAREP to achieve its corporate objectives in a competitive 21st century environment. The technologies are similar to those in widespread use throughout the international petroleum industry. The following are other important considerations for this project: (1) As an operating oil company, ONAREP must seek to optimize its performance in an efficient manner. It needs the technology tools sufficient to conduct competent geotechnical, production, and cost related analysis in support of its program activities in the field. It also requires the ability to effectively move that information to various areas of the company to support financial and planning requirements on a timely basis. (2) As the local partner of foreign enterprises investing in the upstream petroleum sector in Morocco, ONAREP has an obligation to provide them with reliable information, and the requirement to receive such information on a timely and as needed basis. (3) As a promoter of hydrocarbon exploration and production licensing in Morocco, ONAREP needs a mechanism that allows it to digitally generate data packages and related material directly from its own internal databases. The objective of the Feasibility Study is to assist ONAREP in establishing and acquiring a modern GIS integrated with other IT applications. The tasks for the Feasibility Study are summarized as follows: 1) review of ONAREP's organization and functions, information technology structure, and its petroleum information technology plan, then design the GIS and IT plan, and elaborate detailed specifications and procedures for future project implementation accordingly to Task 1 of the Terms of Reference, 2) economic analysis, 3) financial analysis, 4) environmental analysis, 5) review of regulatory issues, 6) list of proposed equipment and services for project implementation, 7) implementation plan, 8) staffing training and time requirements, 9) organizational requirements, 10) databases formulation, and 11) final report to ONAREP and TDA. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $399,880 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background definitional mission report are available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131. Requests for the RFP should be faxed to the IRC, TDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firm's name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want TDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for the RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to TDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to TDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, TDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mailroom before calling TDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this TDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under TDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the TDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the TDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from the host country for up to 20 percent of the TDA grant amount. Details of TDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal in English and in French directly to the Grantee by 11:00 A.M., Monday, October 1, 2001 at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Grantee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals. *****

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010828/BSOL002.HTM (W-236 SN50V8X8)