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By Noah Browning
LONDON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Refineries in Nigeria, Africa's
top oil exporter, processed almost no crude oil in the 13 months
to end June, according to the latest data published by the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Thursday.
In the same period, operating costs for the country's three
main oil refineries, which the NNPC has shuttered pending
revamps, totalled $367 million.
"No white product (Premium Motor Spirit and Dual Purpose
Kerosene) was produced in June 2020 and apparently for the past
12 consecutive months. The lack of production is due to ongoing
rehabilitation works at the refineries," the report said.
The NNPC announced in April that it had closed all its oil
refineries as it works to secure funding and a model to upgrade
them, adding that when the Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri
refineries are revived they would no longer be managed by the
company. For years the facilities have only worked sporadically due
to underinvestment and the country faces an uphill battle to
sell its oil abroad due to hollowed out demand from the
coronavirus pandemic and abundant oil in global markets.
The NNPC report said that all but a tiny fraction of the
country's domestic fuel had come via an agreement between
Nigeria and a large handful of companies to swap the nation's
crude oil for fuels, dubbed direct sale, direct-purchase (DSDP).
Just under 40,000 megatons of crude was the only oil
processed by the country in the reporting period, the report
added, only 2 percent of the country's refining capacity.
"The declining operational performance is attributable to
ongoing revamping of the refineries which is expected to further
enhance capacity utilization once completed," the NNPC added.
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DSDP https://tmsnrt.rs/3gAXw6D
Refinery utilization https://tmsnrt.rs/2EmVUjT
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