NNPC boosts power supply by 3,056mw

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, said it supplied 689 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, mmscfd to power plants in the country in the month of March 2017, an equivalent of 3,056 megawatts (MW) of electricity.


The NNPC, in a statement in Abuja, on the release of its March 2017 edition of the Monthly Financial and Operations Report, also stated that the average national daily gas production for the month of March stood at 226.918 billion cubic feet, bcf, which translates to over 7.319 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, mmscfd.

It stated that the increase in gas supply would support the efforts by the Federal Government to boost electric power generation in the country.

In the statement signed by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, NNPC explained that the March 2017 gas supply was an improvement on the previous month’s supply which stood at 582 mmscfd, adding that the supply is also over 29 per cent higher than the corresponding supply record for March 2016.

The NNPC noted that the increase in gas supply was in spite of an increase in oil assets vandalism, as pipeline sabotage in the country increased from 49 downstream pipelines vandalized points in February 2017 to 94 in March 2017. It declared that this represents over 91 per cent increase relative to the previous months despite Federal Government’s and the NNPC’s continuous engagement with the stakeholders. Nevertheless, the NNPC maintained that there is a noticeable improvement compared to corresponding period of March 2016 which posted 259 cases.

In the downstream sector, the NNPC said it has in stock, a robust inland supply of over 1.2 billion litres of petrol sufficient for more than 34 days for consumption.

It said, “On Automotive Gas Oil, AGO, and Aviation Turbine Kerosene, ATK, NNPC continued to import to supplement AGO local refining and the Central Bank has released foreign exchange to marketers to import AGO and ATK. “The inaugurated 497.2-kilometer System 2B petroleum pipeline network which was achieved within the period under review has helped the NNPC to sustain the gale of uninterrupted supply and distribution of products throughout the country.

“Only recently the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, noted that the Corporation’s re-commissioned Mosimi and Kano depots had impacted positively on highways across the Country. “Baru had stated that the two depots had relieved the impacts of long haulage of petroleum products on the roads, saving the nation of serious environmental consequences of bridging motorists, settlements along highways and the general ecosystem in the country.”