By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has disclosed that its average daily natural gas supply to power plants increased by 19.1 percent to 788 million Standard Cubic Feet of gas per day (mmscfd) in the month of April.
This translates to about 2,873 megawatts of power generation during the entire month.
The national oil company’s in a release by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr Kennie Obateru, explained that the figure was contained in the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) for April 2020.
According to the report, a total of 226.5 billion Cubic Feet (BCF) of natural gas was produced in the month, translating to an average daily production of 7,786.2 million Standard Cubic Feet per Day (mmscfd).
The figure indicated an increase of 3.7 percent at 226.5 BCF, compared to output in March 2020. Out of this figure, a total of 136.4 BCF of gas was commercialized, consisting of 36.9 BCF and 99.5 BCF for the domestic and export market, respectively
NNPC noted that out of the 1,233.01 mmscfd of gas supplied to the domestic market in April, about 787.7 mmscfd, representing 63.9 percent was supplied to gas-fired power plants, while the balance of 445.3 mmscfd or 36.1 percent was supplied to other industries.
Similarly, for the period of April 2019 to April 2020, an average of 1,184.3 mmscfd of gas was supplied to the domestic market, comprising an average of 677.9 mmscfd (57.2 percent) as gas supply to the power plants and 506.42 mmscfd (42.8 percent) as gas supply to industries.
For the period of April 2019 to April 2020, a total of 3,082.9 BCF of gas was produced, representing an average daily production of 7,857.2 mmscfd during the period.
Period-to-date production from Joint Ventures (JVs), Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and NPDC contributed about 69.6 percent, 21.5 percent and 8.9 percent respectively to the total national gas production.
The report also indicated that in the Downstream Sector, a total of 0.94 billion litres of petrol translating to 31.4 million litres/day, was supplied for the month, adding that the corporation has continued to diligently monitor the daily stock of petrol to achieve smooth distribution of petroleum products and zero fuel queue across the Nation.
In the period under review, 65 vandalized pipeline points were reported, a marked increase from the 19 points recorded in March 2020. The Atlas Cove-Mosimi stretch accounted for 55 per cent, while Mosimi-Ore recorded 22 per cent and other locations make up for the remaining 23 per cent.
The 57th edition of the MFOR indicated that in April 2020, NNPC remitted the sum of N219.2 billion to the Federation Account, reflecting the Naira proceeds from the sale of domestic crude oil and gas.
In terms of dollar receipts, an export receipt of $193.1 million was recorded in April 2020.
The release stated that it remained committed to sustaining effective communication with stakeholders through publication of its Monthly Financial and Operations reports on its website and in national dailies in line with the concept of Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence (TAPE) agenda of NNPC Management.
Modupe Gbadeyanka