After recording a trading surplus of N274 million in May 2016, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) could not sustain the tempo as it posted a loss of N26.51bn in June, its latest financial report has shown.

The report, which was released on Sunday, showed that the corporation’s loss was due to a decrease in its revenue. The national oil firm stated in the report, “This 11th publication of the NNPC monthly financial and operations report indicate a deficit of N26.51bn, as against a trading surplus of N274m reported in May 2016.

This trading surplus does not represent net profit as there are other expenses that should ordinarily have been captured. The deficit in the month of June 2016 was majorly due to a decrease in revenue generation as a result of decline in the PPMC petroleum products sales by 13.30 per cent or N14.9bn and increase in products distribution costs. Also, June 2016 operations witnessed the major impact of incessant vandalism; during the month, more than 261 vandalised points were recorded.

In the NPDC, a substantial portion of crude oil sales for the month estimated to be in excess of the deficit could not be realised due to force majeure declared by the SPDC as a result of the vandalised 48-inch Forcados export line.”

Source: The Citizen Ng