Local refineries process seven million barrels of crude

The latest report from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) showed that the combined output from the refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna respectively hit five million barrels, while it processed about seven million barrels between January and November 2015.

“Total crude processed by the three refineries, for the month of November 2015 was zero. However, 8,942 tonnes of unfinished product was processed which translates to a combined yield efficiency of 56.08 per cent.

“From January to November 2015, the three refineries produced 687,916 tonnes (5,043,800.11 barrels) of finished petroleum products out of 955,537 tonnes (7,005,997.28 barrels) of crude processed at an average capacity utilization of 4.71 per cent and yield efficiency of 78.95 per cent,” the report stated.

At a combined output of 445,000bpd, the refineries should have processed about 146.8 million barrels within the period under review.

The latest data also showed that the corporation also recorded deficit of about N7.2 million on the refineries due to plant preservation cost and Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) to rehabilitate the facilities.

Although, the refineries operated at zero capacity in November, 2015, the Kaduna refinery has reportedly begun operations in December, while the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu has raised hopes that the other three refineries would come back on stream soon.

Meanwhile, the quest for gas utilisation in the country may be still be on the front burner this year, as the corporation declared that gas flaring stood at about 775.1 million standard cubic feet per day (scfpd) in November.

According to the report, out of the 247.22 billion cubic feet (BCF) of gas produced in November 2015, a total of 142.26 BCF of gas was commercialized comprising of 33.03 BCF and 109.23 BCF for the domestic and export market respectively.

This, according to NNPC, translates to an average daily supply of 1,101.04 mmscfd of gas to the domestic market and 3,641.03 mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market.

“This implies that 57.97 per cent of the total gas produced was commercialized while the balance of 42.03 per cent was either re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared. Gas flare rate was 9.48 per cent for the month of November 2015 representing about 775.1mmscfd compared with the 2015 YTD average flare rate of 9.48 per cent representing 746.26 mmscfd,” it stated.