By Tanko Mohammed
Nigerian National petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has reported that 19 pipeline points were vandalised in the month of March representing about 47 per cent decrease from the 32 points recorded in February 2020.
The corporation disclosed this on its Monthly Financial and Opertions Report (MFOR) for the month of March released in Abuja.
It said that of the pipelines attacked, Atlas Cove-Mosimi accounted for 53 per cent, while Mosimi-Ibadan recorded 21 per cent and Suleja-Minna accounted for the remaining 26 per cent.
The report assured that NNPC, in collaboration with the local communities and other stakeholders, would continuously strived to reduce the menace to the barest level.
It said that 218.37billion Cubic Feet (BCF) of natural gas was produced in March, translating to an average daily production of 7493.65million Standard Cubic Feet per day (mmscfd)
It added that 3,119.89BCF of gas was produced from the period of March 2019 to March 2020, representing an average daily production of 7,912.05mmscfd during the period.
It explained that period-to-date production from Joint Ventures (JVs), Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and NPDC contributed about 69.37 per cent, 21.67 per cent and 8.95 per cent, respectively, to the total national gas production.
“Out of the 218.37BCF of gas supplied in March, 120.73BCF of gas was commercialised, consisting of 33.45BCF and 87.28BCF for the domestic and export market respectively.
“This translates to 1,235.56mmscfd of gas to the domestic market and 3,817.40mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market for the month,” it added.
The report further said that 55.63 per cent of the average daily gas produced was commercialised, while the balance of 44.37 per cent was re-injected, used as Upstream fuel gas or flared.
“Gas flare rate was 9.08 per cent for the month under review i.e. 679.54mmscfd, compared with average gas flare rate of 8.43 per cent i.e. 666.90mmscfd for March 2019 to March 2020,” it said.
During the month under review, the report also noted a trading deficit of ₦9.53billion for March 2020 compared to the ₦3.95billion surplus posted in February 2020.
The report revealed that the over 300 per cent decline in March 2020 earnings was due primarily to the huge decrease of 181 per cent in the National Oil Company’s Upstream Subsidiary, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company’s (NPDC).
This, it added, was due to the decline in crude oil prices precipitated by the Coronavirus-induced global slowdown.
The pandemic, it said, led to reduction in exports and dwindling world oil consumption; combined with deficits posted by the refineries, among others.
The NNPC MFOR further indicated a total crude oil & gas export sale of 256.19million dollars in March 2020, which decreased by 30.89 per cent, compared to last month’s.
” Of the total sales, crude oil export sales contributed 184.59million dollars (72.05 per cent) of the dollar transactions compared with 281.14million dollars contribution in the previous month; while the export gas sales amounted to 71.60million dollars in the month.
“The March 2019 to March 2020 crude oil and gas transactions indicated that crude oil & gas worth 4.95billion dollars was exported,” it said.
In the Downstream, it noted that 1.73billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol, translating to 59.72mn liters/day were supplied for the month.
The corporation in the report noted that it had continued to diligently monitor the daily stock of PMS to achieve smooth distribution of petroleum products and zero fuel queue across the Nation.
The March 2020 MFO report of the NNPC is the 56th edition in the series that began in 2016.
