Ike Amos
04 November 2017, Sweetcrude, Abuja — The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) lost N14.25 billion to the vandalism of its facilities in July 2017.
The amount, according to the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report for July 2017, represented a decline of 18.4 per cent compared to a loss of N17.46 billion recorded in the month of June.
Specifically, the report stated that the amount was incurred from the loss of crude oil and petroleum products and the repairs of pipeline and was deducted from the NNPC domestic crude oil sales proceeds.
Giving a breakdown of the amount, the report stated that crude oil valued at N343.385 million was lost by the NNPC, dropping sharply from N4.6 billion in June; while petroleum products losses stood at N406.3 million, compared to N1.074 billion in June 2017.
The NNPC also spent N13.5 billion on pipeline repairs and management cost in July, compared to N11.79 billion recorded in the previous month.
As a result of the losses, out of domestic crude receipts of N140.27 billion and gas receipts of N5.57 billion, the NNPC remitted N89.53 billion to the Federation Account Allocation Committee, after transferring N56.3 billion to fund its Joint Venture cash call arrears.
The report disclosed that products theft and vandalism had continued to destroy value and put NNPC at disadvantaged competitive position, stating that between July 2016 and July 2017, a total of 1,415 vandalized points were recorded.
“NNPC in return demands continued support from Nigerians especially in areas of security to achieve zero vandalism of the Nation oil & gas infrastructure. The Corporation in collaboration with Federal Government has continued to engage members of various host communities to stem incidences of pipeline infractions,” the report noted.
Continuing, the report said, “NNPC recorded a trading deficit of N11.87 billion which is an additional loss of N6.68 billion relative to the previous month’s deficit of N5.19 billion. The unimpressive performance of the downstream is mainly due to high crude oil inventory and the shutdowns of Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) and Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) during the period.
“Also, the unavailability of some of the major secondary units in Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) in July 2017 accounted for the non-production of some light ends product with the corresponding increase in operating expenses (OPEX) as a result of several maintenance interventions.
“Other drags to this month performance includes shut down of Trans Niger Pipeline and production shut-in to Que Iboe terminal and Bonga Terminal.”
