The group operational losses of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation dropped by 53.1 per cent following the revamp of the Forcados oil terminal and resumption of export activities there after it was shut down for several months.
An analysis of the latest data from the national oil firm showed that its group deficit dropped by over 50 per cent for the first time since March this year, as its losses reduced from ₦11.87bn in July 2017 to ₦5.74bn in August.
This, according to the NNPC, was basically due to the resumption of export activities from the Forcados terminal, which was reopened on March 31, 2017.
The terminal had been shut down since February 21, 2016, following a force majeure declared by Shell Petroleum Development Company as a result of the vandalised Forcados export line.
Further analysis of the latest data from the corporation also showed that the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Port Harcourt Refining Company refined no drop of crude oil in August 2017 as they were both shut down during the period.
It was gathered that the country recorded increased crude oil production during the period under review and the improvement was credited to the normalcy in the Niger Delta following the Federal Government’s engagement with stakeholders in the region.
Commenting on the drop in losses, the NNPC said, “This represents 53.1 per cent or ₦6.14bn improvement compared to last month’s performance. This improved performance is mainly due to the revamp of the Forcados export terminal, which enhances NPDC’s (Nigerian Petroleum Development Company) performance.
“This is despite the low performance of the downstream value chain due to high crude oil inventory and the shutdown of the KRPC and PHRC during the period as a result of several maintenance interventions. Other drags to this (November) month’s performance include the shutdown of the Trans Niger Pipeline and production shut-in to the Que Iboe Terminal and Bonga Terminal.”
The corporation stated that crude oil production in the country averaged 2.01 million barrels per day in July 2017.
It said the 2.01 million bpd crude production represented 3.15 per cent increase in contrast to what was produced in June, and was up by 21.58 per cent relative to the July 2016 performance.
It also stated that product pipeline breaks stood at 70 points for the month of August 2017, out of which 62 pipelines were vandalised.
The corporation stated that the Port Harcourt-Aba pipeline accounted for 46 vandalised points or 74 per cent, as it noted that it had, in collaboration with the Federal Government, continued to engage members of various host communities in order to stem incidences of pipeline infractions.
It said, “Recent NNPC steps include security synergy with international oil companies to curb oil and gas sabotage through deployment of a structured security apparatus to tackle the incidence across the country.
“This is in addition to robust community security engagement mechanism where members of oil bearing communities are engaged to secure the oil facilities within their domain.”