By Oke Peter
Nigeria’s refineries posted a cumulative loss of N114.3 billion in the first 11 months of 2018, the latest industry data have revealed.
Figures obtained from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Friday in Abuja showed that the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, Port Harcourt Refining Company and Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company made losses in the months under review.
The KRPC made a deficit of N31.62 billion, PHRC recorded N44.2 billion loss, while WRPC lost N38.5 billion. The losses were from January to November 2018.
Further analysis of figures received from the national oil firm showed that the expenses incurred by the refineries were higher than the revenue they generated during the specified period.
Among the three refineries, it was observed that Kaduna refinery earned the lowest revenue of N3.1 billion, while its expenses in the same period were put at N34.73 billion.
Port Harcourt refinery garnered revenue of N140.82 billion, while its expenses for the 11-month period was N185.03 billion.
For Warri refinery, it spent N178.32 billion, higher than its total revenue of N140.23 billion.
Figures from the NNPC also showed the budgeted revenue, expense and surplus that were expected from the refineries during the period.
The corporation’s budget for Kaduna refinery, in terms of revenue, was N294.8 billion, while an expense of N265.2 billion was also budgeted, leaving a surplus of N29.55 billion.
This, however, did not happen as budgeted.
For Port Harcourt refinery, the NNPC expected revenue of N441.43 billion, an expense of N377.2 billion and a surplus of N64.25 billion. This also did not manifest in the actual figures from the refinery during the 11 months.
Similarly, for the Warri refinery, the expected revenue was N348.1 billion, with an expense of N305.82 billion and a surplus of N42.3 billion. But just like the first two refineries, the Warri refinery could not also meet the projections.
Nigeria’s refineries have been performing below standard over time, a development that made the government search for international financiers to revamp the facilities, although this move had yet to succeed.
