NNPC remits N219.16bn, $193.05m into federation account
*As FG denies promising to lower PMS pump price
*Says it will no longer bear petrol subsidy burden
The 57th edition of the monthly financial and operations report indicated that The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), remitted the sum of N219.16 billion to the federation account in the month of April.
According to the report, the figure reflected the naira proceeds from the sale of domestic crude oil and gas adding that in terms of dollar receipts, an export receipt of $193.05 million was also recorded in April.
The NNPC has announced an increase of 19.14 per cent in the average daily natural gas supply to power plants, which translates to 788 millon standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd), equivalent to power generation of 2,873MW.
In a release by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, the body explained that a total of 226.51billion cubic feet of natural gas was produced in April, translating to an average daily production of 7,786.17 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd).
The figure according to the report, indicates an increase of 3.73 per cent at 226.51 billion cubic feet, compared to the output in March. Out of this figure, a total of 136.44 billion cubic feet of gas was commercialized, consisting of 36.99 billion cubic feet and 99.45 billion cubic feet for the domestic and export market, respectively
Out of the 1,233.01mmscfd of gas supplied to the domestic market in April, about 787.70 mmscfd, representing 63.88 per cent was supplied to gas-fired power plants, while the balance of 445.31mmscfd or 36.12 per cent was supplied to other industries.
Similarly, for the period of April 2019 to April 2020, an average of 1,184.29mmscfd of gas was supplied to the domestic market, comprising an average of 677.87 mmscfd or (57.24 per cent) as gas supply to the power plants and 506.42 mmscfd or (42.76 per cent) as gas supply to industries.
For the period of April 2019 to April 2020, a total of 3,082.91 billion cubic feet of gas was produced, representing an average daily production of 7,857.18 mmscfd during the period.
Also, the period-to-date production from joint ventures production sharing contracts and Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) contributed about 69.57 per cent, 21.46 per cent and 8.97 per cent respectively to the total national gas production.
The report also indicated that in the downstream sector, a total of 0.94 billion litres of PMS, translating to 31.37mn liters/day was supplied for the month, adding that the corporation has continued to diligently monitor the daily stock of petrol to achieve smooth distribution of petroleum products and zero fuel queue across the nation.
In the period under review, 65 vandalized pipeline points were reported, a marked increase from the 19 points recorded in March. The Atlas Cove-Mosimi stretch accounted for 55 per cent, while Mosimi-Ore recorded 22 per cent and other locations made up for the remaining 23 per cent.
The release stated that it remained committed to sustaining effective communication with stakeholders through publication of its Monthly Financial and Operations reports on its website and in national dailies in line with the concept of Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence (TAPE) agenda of NNPC Management.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has denied reports that there was a given time when the Federal government promised to reduce the price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) permanently low.
In a statement published on the ministry’s Instagram page on Thursday, Sylva stated that the bulk of withstanding the worst of the fuel subsidy had been hitting hard on the government and it could no longer cope with the challenges.
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The minister explained in the statement titled, ‘Deregulation: The facts and the reasons behind the policy, that after a thorough examination of the economics of subsidizing PMS for domestic consumption, the Federal Government concluded that it was unrealistic to continue with the burden of subsidising PMS to the tune of trillions of naira every year.
He said that the rich were benefiting in large part rather than the poor and ordinary Nigerians.
“This means also that market forces will henceforth determine the prices at the pump. In line with global best practices, the government will continue to play its traditional role of regulation to ensure that this strategic commodity is not priced arbitrarily by private sector suppliers.
“Petroleum products are refined from crude oil. Therefore, the price of crude (the feedstock) for the refining process will affect the price of the refined product.
“When crude oil prices were down, government, through its regulatory functions, ensured that the benefits of lower crude oil prices were enjoyed by Nigerians by ensuring that PMS was lowered. At that time, we indicated that an increase in crude oil prices will also reflect at the pump.
“We need to free up that investment space so that what happened in the banking sector, aviation sector and other sectors can happen in the midstream and downstream oil sector.
“We can no longer avoid the inevitable and expect the impossible to continue. There was no time government promised to reduce pump price and keep it permanently low’’, Sylva explained.
