The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced a trading surplus of 13.23 billion naira in October 2019, representing an increase of 54 percent vis-à-vis the 8.59billion naira surplus posted in September last year.
The NNPC, in a release signed by its Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Samson Makoji, explained that the figures contained in the recently released October 2019 edition of the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR), reflect the sustained streak of positive results in the operations of the National Oil Company.
To underline the increasing fortunes of the corporation in recent times, the September, 2019 trading surplus of ?8.59billion in turn indicated a significant increase of 65 per cent compared to the 5.20billion surplus posted in August 2019, even as that beat the 4.26billion surplus posted in July 2019, reflecting an increase of 22 per cent.
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The NNPC said the increase of 54 per cent trading surplus in October 2019 accounts of the corporation was majorly attributable to improved trading surplus posted by its flagship Upstream subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).
The 51st edition of the MFOR stated a total Crude Oil and Gas export sales of $483.25 million in October 2019; which is an increase of 35.77 percentage point, compared to the previous month, implying that in the month under review, Crude oil export sales contributed $396.94million (82.14 per cent) of the dollar transactions, compared with $267.97million contribution in September, 2019, even as the export Gas sales for the month amounted to $86.32 million.
Overall, the October 2018 to October 2019 Crude Oil and Gas transactions indicated that Crude Oil & Gas worth $5.49 Billion was exported.
In the Downstream Sector, to ensure sustained PMS supply and effective distribution across the country, 1.16billion litres of PMS, translating to 37.30mn liters/day, were supplied for the month.
NNPC stated in the monthly report that it had continued to diligently monitor the daily stock of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol, in order to achieve smooth distribution of petroleum products and zero fuel queue nationwide.
The report said that in October 2019, 35 vandalized-pipeline points, representing a decrease of 81 per cent from the 186 vandalized-points in September 2019, were recorded.
Out of the vandalized points, eight failed to be welded, while only one pipeline was ruptured, with Ibadan-Ilorin axis accounting for 34 percent of the breaks, while ATC-Mosimi and other routes accounted for 23 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively.
In the Gas Sector, out of the 235.82billion Cubic Feet (BCF) of gas supplied in October 2019, a total of 134.97 BCF of gas was commercialized, consisting of 31.37 BCF and 103.60 BCF for the domestic and export market, respectively.
This translates to a total supply of 1,011.85Million Standard Cubic Feet (mmscfd) of gas to the domestic market and 3,341.84mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market for the month, implying that during the month, 57.23 per cent of the average daily gas produced was commercialized, while the balance of 42.77 per cent was re-injected, used as Upstream fuel gas or flared.
The surplus was attributed to the 81 percent drop in pipeline vandalism among other issues that have seen improvement recently.
In 2008, there were over 2500 cases of pipeline vandalism in Nigeria; the alarming trajectory was heightened by the activities of militancy in the Niger-Delta region of the country. Attempts by the governments to quell it had come in two major ways, paying off the militants to stop their activities and keeping an eye on the pipelines, and using the military to provide security for the pipelines.
Each of these attempts did little to stop the vandalism being fueled by greed and grievance. Consequently, the activities took a toll on the oil-based economy of Nigeria, and there was a significant drop in oil output in the country. The NNPC claimed a lot of losses during the period incessant vandal activities on the pipelines, a situation that brought notable emptiness to Government’s treasury. In 2014, pipeline vandalism cost Nigerian Government $14 billion and the preceding years did not have it better.
It appears now that there is a break in the activities of the militancy and that has allowed free flow of the oil through the pipelines. The National oil Corporation repeatedly posted losses to the point that it stirred suspicion of fraud in the organization. The announcement of surplus for the month of October is a strong indication that things have improved for the better in a long while.
The development beckons hope because the Government is on the verge of borrowing $30 billion for infrastructure. As oil prices seem to be rising, there will be enough funds in the treasury to minimize the amount of money the Government is seeking to borrow externally if the trend of surplus is sustained.