The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) recorded loses in the region of N551.46b from January 2015 to December 2018.
Details of financial records published on the company’s website revealed that the national oil company repeatedly failed to meet projected profits as its subsidiaries, particularly refineries, running cost at the headquarters and other arms left whopping deficits.
The corporation recorded N267.14b loss in 2015. The figure stood at N197b in 2016. In 2017, data from its financial statements showed N82b in operational losses, while a deficit of N5.46b was posted for January and August in 2018.
While the company has excluded key details such as taxes and figures from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Ltd, it has continually failed to perform when compared to other national oil companies in Africa and other parts of the world.
Though the firm recorded a trade surplus of N80.57b last year, operating deficit recorded by the nation’s refineries alone rose sharply by 39 per cent to N132.5b in 2018.
When compared to the previous year, the data showed that the refineries posted a loss of N95.09b.
While the corporation earned N2.046t in revenue in 2015, it spent N2.313t leaving a loss of N267.138b. Its corporate headquarters recorded the highest loss of N162.736b, while its product supply and distribution arm, the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) came second with N162.06b loss, followed by a combined loss of N82.09b from its three refineries.
In 2016, the financial and operational report showed that the corporation earned N1.726t, but recorded an expenditure of N1.923t. Losses from its refineries alone totaled N78.95b.
The larger part of the losses made by the company in the past four years came from its corporate headquarters, refineries, and mounting under-recovery from import of petroleum products.
However, while the country is struggling to declare profits, Saudi Arabia’s Arambo posted a net income of $33.8b in the first six months of 2017 alone. Angola’s Sonangol posted a profit of $68m in 2016. Despite the payment of $853m in damages in the third quarter, Brazil’s Petrobras made $7b in 2018.
Most stakeholders, who expressed worry over the situation, said the losses galore would continue without holistic reforms in the nation’s oil sector.
