NNPC loses N1.7 billion to closure of refineries

• Firm promises fuel availability
• Senate demands accounts of NNPC, subsidiaries
There are indications that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has lost about N1.7 billion to the closure of Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries in the last four days.

The national oil company confirmed that the shutdown of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries was owing to crude supply challenges arising from the recent attacks on vital crude oil pipelines in Delta State.

It was learnt that NNPC has lost about 5.4 million litres of fuel to the closure of the two refineries, costing the corporation a total loss of about N416 million daily, based on the ex-depot price of N77 per litre, and amounting to about N1.7 billion loss in four days.

The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Ohi Alegbe, in a statement yesterday stated that the pipeline bombed by suspected militants in Delta State affected the operations of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries, while Warri refinery is still producing.

According to him, the plants were shut simultaneously on Sunday after the Bonny – Okrika crude supply line to the Port Harcourt Refinery and the Escravos-Warri crude supply line to the Kaduna Refinery suffered breaches.

Before the closure, he said the Port Harcourt Refinery was recording a daily PMS yield of over 4.1 million litres while Kaduna Refinery was posting a daily petrol production of about 1.3 million litres. He added that the Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC) is still on stream and producing a little above 1.4 million litres of petrol per day.

The corporation, however, assured that it has put in place measures to guarantee country-wide availability of petroleum products.
“In response to the unexpected setback, we have activated comprehensive remedial measures to sustain the prevailing stability in the supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country,” Alegbe said.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian military has said no arrest has been made so far, but search has been intensified for suspected militants who bombed the oil pipelines in Delta State.

The Acting Director of Defence Information (DDI), Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar, in an interview with The Guardian said “the military and operatives of other security agencies are in serious search for the perpetrators of this violent act of economic sabotage, with a view to bringing the culprits to book”.

Also yesterday, the Senate Committee on Gas Resources asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiaries to submit all their detailed audited accounts in the past three years.
The panel which made the request during a meeting with stakeholders in the gas sector also blamed the Federal Government agencies for the increasing cases of gas flaring in the country. According to the committee, the failure of the agencies to enforce payment of stipulated penalties on erring International Oil Companies, (OICs) was mainly responsible for increased gas flaring.

Besides the NNPC, its subsidiaries expected to submit the audited accounts are the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Nigerian Petroleum Investment and Management Service (NAPIMS), Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), among others.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Albert Akpan, who gave the directive, during the committee’s engagement with the agencies in Abuja, said the request was in line with the mandate of the panel in its ongoing investigation into the activities of the agencies.