Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced crude oil and gas export sale of $355.93million in September 2019, indicating a significant increase of 52.84 per cent, compared to the August, 2019 figure of $232.87million.
The information which was revealed in the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) which bears the September 2019 crude oil and gas export sales information is the 50thedition in the series which debuted in 20015.
A breakdown of the figures indicated that crude oil export sales contributed $267.97million (75.29 per cent) of the dollar transactions, compared with $150.73million contribution in the previous month; while the export gas sales amounted to $87.96million in the month.
The September 2018 to September 2019 Crude Oil and Gas transactions indicated that crude oil & gas worth $5.63billion was exported.
The streak of positive results which has largely characterized the operations of the corporation was sustained with the posting of a trading surplus of ₦8.59billion recorded in the month under review. The report indicated a significant increase of 65 per cent compared to the ₦5.20billion surplus posted in August 2019.
In turn, the August figure of ₦5.20billion surpassed the ₦4.26billion surplus posted in the previous month of July 2019, reflecting an increase of 22 per cent, according to the September edition of the report.
The improved surplus posted in the Upstream and Downstream Sector transactions of NNPC’s subsidiary companies, Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL), Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), Nigerian Gas Marketing Company (NGMC), Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Nigerian Pipeline and Storage Company (NPSC), and Duke Oil Incorporated, explained the significant increase of 65 per cent in the September trading of corporation, the report said.
The MFOR noted that the percentage increase in the performances of these NNPC subsidiaries cushioned the September sharp decline in the results posted by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) as compared with the company’s posting in August, 2019.
The report said that in the Gas Sector, 235.12billion Cubic Feet (BCF) of natural gas was produced in the month of September 2019, translating to an average daily production of 7,837.42Million Standard Cubic Feet per Day (mmscfd). For the period September 2018 to September 2019, a total of 3,106.80 BCF of gas was produced representing an average daily production of 7,941.69mmscfd during the period.
Period-to-date Production from Joint Ventures (JVs), Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and NPDC contributed about 69.43 per cent, 21.14 per cent and 9.43 per cent respectively to the total national gas production, according to the report.
In terms of natural gas off take, Commercialization & Utilization, out of the 235.12BCF of gas supplied in September 2019, 135.63BCF of gas was commercialized, consisting of 32.25BCF and 103.38BCF for the domestic and export market respectively.
This translates to a total supply of 1,074.86mmscfd of gas to the domestic market and 3,446.02mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market for the month under review, implying that 57.68 per cent of the average daily gas produced was commercialized while the balance of 42.32 per cent was re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared.
In the Downstream Sector, the report said a total of 186 pipeline points were vandalized, representing an increase of 18 per cent from the 158 points breached in August 2019. Out of the vandalized points, 30 failed to be welded while none was ruptured. Aba-Enugu axis accounted for 77 per cent of the breaks, while PHC-Aba, ATC-Mosimi and other routes accounted for 8 per cent each.
To eliminate the menace, the report informed that NNPC in collaboration with the local communities and other stakeholders continuously strive to reduce and eventually eliminate the scourge through collaboration and sustained dialogue.