By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Trading surplus by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) rose 314.24 per cent to ₦39.85 billion in February against ₦9.62 billion in January, according to its latest Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR).
Trading surplus or trading deficit is derived after deduction of expenditure from revenue for a period under review, explained NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Kennie Obateru, who released the report.
The report shows that NNPC Group operating revenue increased to N152.07 billion in February, or by 35.64 per cent against N578.79 billion in January.
Expenditure in January rose 29.21 per cent or by N121.83 billion to N538.94 billion February. Expenditure in February as a proportion of revenue was 0.93 per cent against 0.98 per cent in January.
The NNPC attributed increase in trading surplus mainly to reconciled accounts by its downstream subsidiary, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), using the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) pricing template.
Other factors included the performance of Duke Oil, Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) and Nigerian Gas Marketing Company (NGMC) which recorded robust gains in increased debt collection and cost optimisation measures.
Nigeria consumes 50.52m litres of petrol daily
However, the NNPC said 54 pipeline points were vandalised in February representing 50 per cent increase from the 27 recorded in January.
Warri Area accounted for 50 per cent vandalised points, and Mosimi Area (39 per cent), Kaduna Area (7 per cent), and Port Harcourt Area (4 per cent).
The NNPC stressed that it continues to collaborate with local communities and other stakeholders to stop pipeline vandalism.
It disclosed that it supplied a total 1.41 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to the market in February, translating to 50.52m litres per day.
Out of 206.05 Billion Cubic Feet (BCF) of natural gas produced in February 2021, a total 133.06BCF was commercialied, comprising 40.15 BCF for domestic use and 92.91 BCF for export.
This translates to 1,433.75 Million Standard Cubic Feet Per Day (mmscfd) of gas for the domestic market and 3,318.25mmscfd for export.
A total 64.48 per cent of average daily gas produced was commercialised, the balance 35.52 per cent was re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared, according to the NNPC.
Gas flare rate was 7.67 per cent in February (565.52mmscfd) compared to the average rate of 7.12 per cent (529.20mmscfd) from February 2020 to January 2021.
The February 2021 MFOR is the 67th in the series, which the NNPC says it publishes in keeping with its commitment to transparency and accountability.