Ike Amos
21 June 2017, Sweetcrude, Abuja — The three refineries in the country, Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt refineries, posted operating surplus of N1.578 billion in April 2017, according to financials released, Wednesday, by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
In its April 2017 Monthly Financial and Operations Report, the NNPC stated that the surplus declared by the three refining companies was spurred by a revenue of N60.678 billion, crude plus freight cost of N51.5 billion and operating expenses of N7.6 billion.
However, of the three, the report stated that only the Port Harcourt refineries declared a surplus of N3.065 billion in April, while the Warri and Kaduna refineries posted operating deficits of N314.03 million and N1.17 billion respectively.
The report also stated that during the period under review, the refineries combined capacity utilization was 24.59 per cent with Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) recording the highest capacity utilization of 31.30 percent.
In addition, it said, “Total crude processed by the three local Refineries for the month of April 2017 was 447,738 metric tonnes, about 3.283 million barrels, which translates to a combined yield efficiency of 90.01 per cent compared to crude processed in March 2017 of 253,180 metric tonnes, about 1.856 million barrels, which translates to a combined yield efficiency of 87.83 per cent.”
The NNPC explained that since January 2017, it had been adopting a Merchant Plant Refineries Business Model that takes cognizance of the products worth and crude costs.
As a result of the challenges confronting the refineries, the NNPC disclosed that in April 2017, 1.290 billion litres of PMS was supplied into the country through the Direct-Sale Direct-Purchase (DSDP) arrangements as against the 1.491 billion litres supplied in the month of March 2017.
To this end, the NNPC said it recorded a trading deficit of N5.27 billion in April 2017, representing 6.20 per cent decrease in the group operating deficit compared to March 2017 deficit of N5.62 billion.
“This decrease in the deficit is mainly attributed to the decrease in Nigerian Product Marketing Company (NPMC)/Nigerian Pipeline and Storage Company (NPSC)/Marine Logistics (ML) expenses relatively, although impacted by lower Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) revenue,” the NNPC said.
