The inability of the four refineries in Nigeria to produce at optimal capacity has continued to impact negatively on the economy of the country, costing the country $706.521 million, about N113.04 billion in February 2014, data obtained from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has revealed.
Specifically, the four refineries processed 497,000 metric tonnes of crude oil in February, out of a total of 903,000 metric tonnes of crude available for processing.
The inability of the four refineries in Nigeria to produce at optimal capacity has continued to impact negatively on the economy of the country, costing the country $706.521 million, about N113.04 billion in February 2014, data obtained from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has revealed.
Specifically, the four refineries processed 497,000 metric tonnes of crude oil in February, out of a total of 903,000 metric tonnes of crude available for processing.
A metric tonne of crude oil equals 7.312 barrels of crude, while the average price of crude in the international market is $107 per barrel.
The four refineries are the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC), Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) and Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC).
According to the NNPC, in the month under review, 443,000 metric tonnes of dry crude oil, condensate and slop was received by the four refineries, KRPC, PHRC and WRPC, adding that with an opening stock of 460,000 metric tonnes, total crude oil available for processing was 903,000 metric tonnes, out of which 497,000 metric tonnes was processed.
To this end, the NNPC put the combined average capacity of the four refineries in the month under review at 35.55 per cent.
According to the NNPC, the respective average capacity utilisation during the month was 33.57 per cent, 12.75 per cent and 50.39 per cent for KRPC, PHRC and WRPC respectively.
In the area of production returns, the data from the NNPC revealed that total national domestic refining produced 415,000 metric tonnes of finished and intermediate products.
The NNPC noted that the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company, (PPMC), which lifts products from the refineries, evacuated 244,000 metric tonnes of products.
Altogether, the NNPC noted that 35.27 metric tonnes of products was used by the three refineries as fuel and loss; consumption as fuel was 6.15 per cent, while loss and flare accounted for 0.94 per cent of production.
Giving details on domestic petroleum products distribution in the country, the data revealed that NNPC Retail Limited and independent petroleum products marketing companies distributed about 577.13 million litres of various petroleum products in the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory in February 2014.
This, according to the NNPC, shows an increase of 83.89 million litres or 17.01 per cent when compared with the total volume of 493.24 million litres distributed in January 2014.
The data revealed that NNPC Retail Limited distributed 152.17 million litres, representing 26.37 per cent of the total sales of petroleum products, while the independent marketing companies distributed 424.96 million litres, representing 73.63 per cent.
The NNPC stated further, "Distribution by product shows, Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) had the highest figure of 390.50 million litres, representing 67.66 per cent of the total, reflecting average daily sales of 13.47 million litres.
"This was followed by Household Kerosene (HHK) with total sales figure of 76.20 million litres, representing 13.20 per cent, averaging 2.63 million litres per day.
Gas Oil (AGO) came third in the petroleum products distribution slate with total figure 74.50million litres or 12.91 per cent, giving an average daily figure of 2.57 million litres. Low Pour Fuel (LPFO) and others constituted the remaining part of the distribution.
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