According to data released on Tuesday by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the operating deficit recorded by the nation’s refineries rose by 39 per cent to ₦132.5 billion in 2018, compared to the previous year.

The refineries which are located in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri have a combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day but have continued to operate far below the installed capacity for many years, posting a loss of ₦95.09 billion in 2017

Port Harcourt refinery, which did not process any crude oil in seven months recorded the biggest loss of ₦59.96 billion in 2018, Kaduna refinery which was idle for 11 months lost ₦31 billion while Warri refinery recorded a deficit of ₦41.71 billion.

The NNPC report also indicates that a total of ₦13.58 billion was lost in January, ₦8.05 billion in February, ₦11.88 billion in March, ₦20.08 billion in May, ₦14.51 billion in June, ₦10.45 billion in July, ₦10.79 billion in August, ₦6.97 billion in September, ₦9.32 billion in October, ₦9.58 billion in November and ₦17.31 billion in December.

The NNPC said its group operating revenue for December stood at ₦731.88 billion, ₦439.59 billion higher than the performance in the previous month while expenditure increased by ₦429.52 billion.

“This increased performance is attributable to NPDC’s higher revenue recorded during the period following subsidiary’s continuous revenue drive arising from recent average weekly production of 332,000bpd making the target of 500,000 bpd for 2020 achievable. This also captured the updated previous months’ revenue and expense,” it added.