The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said it would maintain its current ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) until the conclusion of ongoing engagement with the organised labour and other stakeholders. Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, said the Corporation, at the moment, was bearing the burden of importing refined petroleum products as the supplier of last resort to guarantee energy security for the nation.
Shedding more light on the recent interview by the Group Managing Director, Mallam Mele Kyari, at the State House, Dr. Obateru stated that the NNPC has no intention to preempt ongoing engagement with labour by unilaterally increasing the ex-depot price of petrol, even though the Corporation is bearing the burden of price differentials between the landing cost and pump price of petrol.
He said as a proactive organisation, NNPC has made arrangements for robust stock of petroleum products in all its strategic depots across the country to keep the nation well supplied at all times. Dr. Obateru advised petroleum products marketers not to engage in arbitrary price increase or hoarding of petrol so as not to disrupt the market. He also urged motorists not to engage in panic buying, stressing that NNPC was committed to ensuring energy security for the country as the supplier of last resort. He assured marketers and all other relevant stakeholders in the downstream sector of sustainable collaboration for the public interest.
Meanwhile the Corporation said it made an increase of 80.12% in trading surplus for the month of December 2020 which stands at ₦24.19billion compared to the ₦13.43billion surplus recorded in November 2020. This fact is contained in the December 2020 edition of the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR), according to a press release by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Corporation, Dr. Kennie Obateru. Trading surplus or trading deficit is derived after deduction of the expenditure profile from the revenue in the period under review.
According to the report, the operating revenue of the NNPC Group in December 2020 as compared to November 2020 increased by 33.44% or N137.00billion to stand at N546.65billion. Similarly, expenditure for the month increased by 27.54% or N112.81billion to stand at N522.47billion. The December 2020, expenditure as a proportion of revenue is 0.96 as against 0.97 in November 2020. The report indicated that the 80.12% increase is due mainly to the significant rise in the profit of NNPC’s flagship Upstream entity, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) amid improved market fundamentals and strong global demand for crude oil. Other contributory factors to the robust trading surplus recorded in the month under review include the improved performance by the Nigerian Gas Marketing Company (NGMC), the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), the National Engineering and Technical Company (NETCO) and Duke Oil Incorporated which recorded noticeable gains in their operations.
In the Downstream, 2.26billion litres of white products were sold and distributed by PPMC in the month of December 2020 compared to 1.72billion litres in the month of November 2020. This comprised 2.254billion litres of petrol, translating to 72.72million litres/day, 11.40 million litres of Automotive Gas Oil (diesel) and 0.48 million litres of kerosene. Total sale of white products for the period of December 2019 to December 2020 stood at 18.456billion litres and petrol accounted for 18.325billion litres or 99.29%. In monetary terms, the volume translates to a value of ₦288.77billion recorded on the sale of white products by PPMC in the month of December 2020 compared to ₦226.08 billion sales in November 2020.
Total revenues generated from the sales of white products for the period December 2019 to December 2020 stood at ₦2.217 triilion, where petrol contributed about 99.09% of the total sales with a value of ₦2.197trillion.
In December 2020, 43 pipeline points were vandalised representing about 18.60% increase from the 35 points recorded in November 2020. Mosimi Area accounted for 56% of the vandalised points while Kaduna Area and Port Harcourt accounted for the remaining 33% and 12% respectively.
In the Gas Sector, natural gas production in December 2020 stood at 213.34Billion Cubic Feet (BCF) translating to an average daily production of 6,881.83million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd). The daily average natural gas supply to power plants increased by 3.52% to 816mmscfd, equivalent to power generation of 3,445MW. Out of the 208.61BCF of gas supplied in December 2020, a total of 146.72BCF was commercialised; consisting of 42.90BCF and 103.82BCF for the domestic and export market respectively.
This translates to a total supply of 1,383.93mmscfd of gas to the domestic market and 3,349.00mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market for the month. This implies that 70.33% of the average daily gas produced was commercialized while the balance of 29.67% was re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared. Gas flare rate was 6.80% for the month under review (i.e. 457.25 mmscfd) compared to average gas flare rate of 7.15% (i.e. 538.59 mmscfd) for the period December 2019 to December 2020.
The 65th edition of the NNPC MFOR highlights the Corporation’s activities for the period of December 2019 to December 2020. In line with the Corporation’s commitment of becoming more accountable and transparent, the Corporation has continued to sustain effective communication with stakeholders through the MFOR which is published on Corporation’s website, national dailies, as well as independent online news portals.
