Gas production leaps as NNPC records 1,858 vandalised pipelines

A total of 230.35 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas was produced in the country in July this year, averaging a daily production of 7,678.17 million standard cubic feet (mmscfd), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has disclosed.

The figure represents a 8.81 per cent increase over the previous month’s statistics.

Its monthly financial and operations report for July 2018 said 3,084.09Bcf of the product was produced in a year, representing an average daily production of 7,834.62mmscfd while the daily average supply to power plants stood at 744.86mmscfd, equivalent of 2,898 megawatts.

The survey noted that 1,858 cases of vandalised pipelines were recorded during the period.

The document pointed out that for July alone, 204 cases of pipeline vandalism were witnessed with 16 points either failed to be welded or ruptured/clamped.

It also indicated that 188 pipeline points were vandalised as against 165 recorded last month with Ibadan-Mosimi accounting for 124 points or 66 per cent of the cases while Aba-Enugu, PHC-Aba and other locations bore the rest.

A statement by NNPC Group General Manager Group Public Affairs, Ndu Ughamadu, explained that output from joint ventures (JVs), production sharing contracts (PSCs) and Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) contributed 69.38 per cent, 21.69 per cent and 8.93 per cent to total national gas production

A further breakdown shows that 127.19bcf of the product were commercialised, comprising 35.55bcf and 91.65bcf for the domestic and export markets.

This translates to a total supply of 1,184.81mmscfd and 3,055.00mmscfd to the local and international markets for the month, implying that 55.98 per cent of gas was commercialised while the balance of 44.02 per cent was re-injected and used as upstream fuel or flared.