Ike Amos
13 June 2017, Sweetcrude, Abuja — The Nigerian refineries, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri refineries recorded operating surplus of N3.39 billion in March 2017, bouncing back from a deficit of N522.82 million recorded in the previous month.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in its March 2017 Monthly Financial and Operations Report, obtained Tuesday, disclosed that the surplus was in spite of a 28.9 million decline in its revenue from N70.97 billion in February 2017 to N50.438 billion at the end of March 2017.
The three refineries recorded crude and freight cost of N39.086 billion in the month under review, compared to N62.99 billion in the previous months; while it recorded operating expenses of 7.952 billion, compared to N8.51 billion in February.
Of the three refineries, only Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) posted a deficit of N1.94 billion; while Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) and Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) recorded surpluses of N844.26 million and N4.49 billion respectively.
Continuing, the NNPC said, “Total Crude processed by the three local Refineries, KRPC, PHRC and WRPC for the month of March 2017 was 253,180 metric tonnes (1.856 million barrels) which translates to a combined yield efficiency of 87.83 per cent compared to crude processed in February 2017 of 493,773 metric tonnes (3.62 million barrels) which translates to a combined yield efficiency of 90.37 per cent.
“For the month of March 2017, the three refineries produced 282,164 metric tons of finished petroleum products out of 253,180 metric tons of crude processed at a combined capacity utilization of 13.46 percent compared to 29.06 percent combined capacity utilization achieved in the month of February 2017.
“The operational performance is attributable to low crude oil available for production which dropped by 20.29 percent relative to last month total available crude oil for refining. The ongoing revamping of the Refineries will enhance capacity utilization once completed. The three Refineries were active during the month.”
The NNPC said since January 2017, it had adopted a Merchant Plant Refineries Business Model that takes cognizance of the products worth and crude costs.