Uche Usim, Abuja
For the first time in its history, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Monday, released its audited report (2018), showing that its subsidiaries recorded a total revenue of N5.04 trillion with a profit of N1.01 trillion.
The report, signed by its Group Managing Director, Mr Mele Kyari, is a radical departure from old norms as the national oil company hitherto published only its unaudited operational statements.
The audited report also shows that three of the nation’s refineries recorded combined losses of N154 billion with the Kaduna Refinery recording zero revenue for 2018.
The inability of the company to generate any revenue resulted in an operating loss of N64.54 billion.
Reacting, NNPC GMD, Kyari, said it was very difficult to explain why Nigeria, an oil-producing country would become a net importer of petroleum products.
He said; “The reason is simple: we could not fix our refineries and that is very difficult to explain. Why can’t we fix our refineries? We started this very many years ago. However, all attempts to fix our refineries failed for very simple reasons and that was a strategy problem”.
However, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), its oil production subsidiary made an after-tax profit of N179 billion for 2018 as against the N157 billion that was made in 2017.
The Pipeline Product Marketing Company (PPMC), its supply and refined petroleum products marketing subsidiary, reported a revenue of N29.5 billion in 2018 as against the N113 billion that was achieved in 2017. It reported a profit after tax of N9.3 billion in 2018 as against a loss of N27 billion that was recorded in 2017.
During the period, the total assets under management by the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) stood at N18.6 trillion, with the oil and gas components valued at N14.2 trillion.
For Warri Refining Company, the audited financial statement showed that the company earned N1.98 billion as revenue while incurring the N12.74 billion as cost of sales.
This resulted into a gross loss of N10.57 billion.
When the gross loss of N10.57 billion is juxtaposed with the operational expenses of N34.64 billion, the company’s financial position dropped further to an operating loss of N45.39 billion.
The situation is also the same for the Port Harcourt Refining Company which recorded a total revenue of N1.45 billion in 2018 with processing expenses of N24.04 billion, resulting into a gross loss of N22.58 billion.
Nonetheless, industry watchers have hailed the NNPC GMD for his audacious transparency stance leading to the release of the audited results.
The Executive Secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Mr Waziri Adio said the development was good for the country’s image locally and internationally.
He said, “Having such disclosures is good for transparency and accountability. I congratulate Mele Kyari and his team and urge them to make this a regular practice and in open data format.”
Meanwhile, experts have said that the country’s crude oil refineries, with a combined refining capacity of over 445,000 barrels of oil per day, according to the United Energy Information Administration, should easily be able to meet the current domestic demand in refined products.
