NNPC Lost N19.43bn In April – Report

Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation lost N19.43bn in the month of April, as the country’s crude oil production dropped from 59.27 million barrels recorded in February to 57.43 million barrels in March.
In its latest financial and operations report released on Wednesday, the NNPC also revealed that over 1,500 megawatts of electricity were lost as a result of the destruction of oil and gas facilities, adding that the capacity utilisation of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company plummeted from 25.65 per cent in March to 6.36 per cent in April.
The report stated, “The NNPC’s monthly financial and operations report indicate an operational loss of 19.43bn in April 2016 as against 18.89bn in the month of March 2016. The deficit increased by 2.83 per cent in the month of April 2016 due to slight decline in revenue generation, which is attributed to the decrease in petroleum product sales by 7.11 per cent.
“The NPDC’s crude sale for the month is still hampered by Forcados pipeline vandalism, which continued to deny the NPDC of monthly crude oil revenue of about 20.0bn.”
The oil firm stated that global crude oil spot prices increased by $3.41 per barrel in April to a monthly average of $40.75 per barrel, up from $37.34 in March and down from $57.54 in April 2015.
This, it said, represented an increase of 9.13 per cent from March 2016 and -29.18 per cent from April 2015, adding that the increase in the crude oil spot prices by $3.41 per barrel in April this year to a monthly average of $40.75 per barrel was the highest monthly average so far this year.
It stated, “Nigerian crude oil production for the month of March 2016 stood at 57.43 million barrels, which is 3.1 per cent lower than February 2016 production, and so far, the lowest recorded in the 12-month review period. Recent upsurge in vandalism has negatively impacted on the Nigerian crude oil production output, losing its African top crude oil producer to Angola.
“About 380,000barrels per day remained shut-in due to vandalism of the 48-inch subsea export line on 15th of February, 2016. Hence, all March cargoes were deferred until the repair is completed. Also, the nation has lost over 1,500MW of power supply to the damage as gas supply from Forcados, which is Nigeria’s major artery, accounts for 40 to 50 per cent of gas production. Incessant pipeline vandalism poses the greatest threat to the industry.”
The NNPC, however, noted that its leadership was already diligently addressing the corporation’s key business and operational challenges.
“For the first time, the NNPC was able to get the buy-in of the upstream companies operating in Nigeria to enhance domestic supply of refined petroleum products by indicating readiness to make available additional funding to support import of products,” it said.