Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Thursday announced that it recorded an increased trading surplus of N20.36bn in July 2020 compared to the N2.12bn surplus it posted in the preceding month.

It announced this in its latest financial and operations report for July, and added that 858 per cent overall increase in performance was largely due to the 178 per cent rise in the surplus posted by Nigerian Petroleum Development Company.

NPDC is the flagship subsidiary of the national oil corporation. The report explained that NPDC’s impressive result was bolstered by the improvement in global crude oil demand for the third consecutive month.

The report stated that NNPC’s fortune was further enhanced by the 739 per cent increased profit posted by Integrated Data Services Limited and a 51 per cent growth in performance by Duke Oil Incorporated, both subsidiaries of NNPC.

Returns from NNPC Retail Limited and Nigerian Gas Marketing Company during the period under review also grew by 28 per cent and 24 per cent respectively owing to increased sales and improved debt collection.

In the gas sector, the oil firm said gas production in July increased by 2.19 per cent at 236.34 billion cubic feet compared to output in June, translating to an average daily production of 7,623.98 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.

The daily average natural gas supply to gas power plants stood at 707mmscfd, equivalent to power generation of 2,421 megawatts.

For the period of July 2019 to July 2020, 3,079.64BCF of gas was produced, representing an average daily production of 7,812.11mmscfd during the period.

Period-to-date production from Joint Ventures, Production Sharing Contracts and NPDC contributed about 70.88 per cent, 20.37 per cent and 8.75 per cent respectively to the total national gas production.

In the downstream sector, to ensure continuous stability in Premium Motor Spirit supply and effective distribution across the country, 1.02 billion litres of PMS translating to 32.95 million litres/day were supplied for the month.

The report also stated that during the period under review, 36 pipeline points were vandalised, representing about nine per cent increase from the 33 points recorded in June 2020.

Atlas Cove-Mosimi and Aba-Enugu network accounted for 28 per cent each, while PHC-Aba and the other locations recorded 14 per cent and 31 per cent respectively.

NNPC said it was working in collaboration with the local communities and other stakeholders continuously to reduce the menace of pipeline vandalism.

Punch