By Fatima Saka
A total of N674 billion profit after tax has been declared by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) for the financial year ended Dec. 31, 2021.
The profit represented a growth of 134.84 per cent when compared with N287 billion profit in 2020 was recorded under the old Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Malam Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), NNPC Ltd. said this at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja.
“NNPC progressed to a new performance level, from N287 billion profit in 2020 to a N674 billion profit after tax in 2021 climbing higher by 134.8 per cent year on year profit growth,’’ he said.
Kyari also said that it recorded an increase in total assets from N15.86 trillion in 2020 to N16.27 trillion in 2021.
Speaking on the Group’s financial position, Kyari said the corporation’s total liabilities decreased by 8.3 per cent to N13.46 trillion during the review period from N14.68 trillion in 2020.
The GCEO said its shareholders’ funds position rose N2.81 trillion representing 144 per cent year-on-year.
“The performance would have been greater if the operations in the year under review were free from incessant vandalism, crude oil and products theft, among others.
“Details of the performance of NNPC and the respective subsidiaries as well as that of National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) will be published on our website www.nnpcgroup.com for stakeholder’s perusal.
“We look forward to achieving greater performance to support our growth aspirations and to create more value for our stakeholders as we drive full commercial operations under NNPC Ltd.,’’ he said.
He recalled that in Sept. 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the publication of the 2020 NNPC Group Audited Financial Statement, in which NNPC declared a profit after tax of N287 billion for the first time in 44 years.
Kyari said that in spite of the challenging operating environment, it strongly believed that the corporation had the potential to sustainably deliver better value to its esteemed shareholders.
He said it sought to become a dynamic global energy company of choice to its customers, partners and over 200 million shareholders comprising all Nigerians.
Kyari noted that the corporation in 2019 rolled out deliberate policies and initiatives aimed at reducing costs and eliminating losses while adopting technology to entrench transparency, accountability and performance excellence (TAPE) across its various functions.
He said the NNPC had recorded significant improvement over the past three years, turning up the curve from losses to profits.
In another development,the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has re-launched the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) 2022, aligned with the objectives of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), to reduce the flaring of the resource.
Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, on Tuesday in Abuja, stated that the coming on the back of a submission by the NUPRC programme management team set up to coordinate the implementation of the NGFCP, at the programme re-launch
The initiative introduces a bankable commercial structure for the monetisation of flared gas by providing flare gas buyers with title and access to collect the molecules from the prescribed fields.
While speaking, he said that the formal rework of the programme was to realign it with the objectives of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), and refocus the NGFCP to reflect current flare disposition, operational realities as well as prevailing market, environment and global dynamics.
He further reiterated that the commission was committed to the successful completion of the NGFCP which will drive the attainment of Nigeria’s pledge to end routine gas flaring within the decade and contribute to the reduction of global emissions, consistent with President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration at COP 26.
Komolafe however expressed that NGFCP 2022 as a hybrid of opportunities to preserve value for existing bidders and expanding avenues for new investors in the first-of-its-kind flare auction, Komolafe said it represents a critical pathway to the achievement of Nigeria Energy transition plan .
“The auction process has been streamlined to enable an accelerated delivery schedule for this exercise with the announcement of winners planned for December 2022,” he explained.
