Nigeria refineries processed almost no crude oil in the 13 months to end June but cost $367 million during the period to maintain them, the latest data published by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has shown.
According to the corporation, operating costs for the country’s three main oil refineries totalled $367 million for the period when they were closed for rehabilitation works.
The report said, “No white product (Premium Motor Spirit and Dual Purpose Kerosene) was produced in June 2020 and apparently for the past 12 consecutive months. The lack of production is due to ongoing rehabilitation works at the refineries.”
Reuters’ report cites the NNPC as saying that in April that it had closed all its oil refineries as it works to secure funding and a model to upgrade them, adding that when the Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri refineries are revived they would no longer be managed by the company.
According to the report, all but a tiny fraction of the country’s domestic fuel had come via an agreement between Nigeria and a large handful of companies to swap the nation’s crude oil for fuels, dubbed direct sale, direct-purchase (DSDP), according to the report.
. Just under 40,000 megatons of crude was the only oil processed by the country in the reporting period, the report added, only 2 per cent of the country’s refining capacity.
“The declining operational performance,” the corporation explained, ” is attributable to the ongoing revamping of the refineries which is expected to further enhance capacity utilisation once completed.”
