New Telegraph

NNPC cuts loss from N803bn to N1.7bn in one year

339 firms bid for 2020/21 crude oil sales contract

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has recorded a 99.7% reduction in its loss profile from N803 billion in 2018 to N1.7 billion in 2019. This revelation is contained in the 2019 Audited statement published for second time in the over 40 years’ history of the Corporation.

NNPC’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Mr. Umar Ajiya, disclosed that general administrative expenses also witnessed a 22% dip from N894 billion in 2018 to N696 billion in 2019. According to Ajiya, majority of the subsidiaries posted improved performance namely, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC) which recorded N479 billion profit in 2019 compared to N179 billion in 2018 representing 167% increase; the Integrated Data Sciences Limited (IDSL) recorded N23 billion profit in 2019 compared to N154 million in 2018 representing 14,966% increase; the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) recorded N14.2 billion profit in 2019 compared to N9.3 billion in 2018 representing 52% increase. This happened while the refineries have maintained the same level of losses as in 2018, but which will reduce significantly in 2020 due to cost optimization drive.

The CFO explained that the improved performance in the 2019 financial year was driven mainly by cost optimization, contracts renegotiation and operational efficiency. He said: “The 2019 AFS goes further to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to the principle of Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence (TAPE) while the outlook for 2020 looks promising in view of the Management’s strong drive to prune down running cost and grow revenues.”

The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, had promised to sustain the publication of the Corporation’s Audited Financial Statement as part of efforts to deepen transparency and accountability and keep stakeholders abreast of NNPC operations. Meanwhile, no fewer than 339 companies are bidding for the 2020/21 sales and purchase of the Nigerian crude oil grades.

Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Malam Mele Kyari, disclosed this at the 2020/2021 Crude oil tender prequalification bid opening ceremony yesterday in Abuja. He said that the event marked another transparent process for the corporation.

Kyari said that in spite the challenges posed by COVID-19, the Corporation had modified the bidding process by leveraging on technology to progress the cycle of crude oil bidding. According to him, there will be strict compliance with all the extant regulations and reinforcement of commitment by the Corporation to transparency and accountability. “We have continued to see a strong demand for different grades of Nigerian crude in the oil market despite the lockdowns and refinery run cuts. “We are also witnessing demand for Nigerian crude switch from traditional destinations such as India and finding home in new markets such as China,” he said.

Represented by Mr. Umar Ajiya, NNPC Chief Financial Officer, he said that the 2020/21 crude oil bidding had many objectives, which include to engage reputable, qualified and high capacity international and indigenous companies. He said that companies would guarantee market placement of the Nigerian crude oil at optimum value during the next contracting cycle.

He noted that other objectives was to ensure that selection of off-takers was aligned with tested transparent and accountable procedures in compliance with the Public Procurement and Nigerian Content Acts.

The GMD further noted that apart from the objectives, the corporation would sustain transparency in all process and establish the best partners through robust mix of big international players. He assured of support for indigenous companies capacity development in the process.

“Ultimately, crude oil is a major revenue earner in Nigeria, therefore, the credibility of this process is very important to us all,” he said. In his remarks, Chief Operating Officer Upstream, Mr. Adokiye Tombomieye, said that the corporation had taken steps to ensure the process of producing the best bidder emerged while adhering to COVID-19 principles.

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