NNPCL pays N156.5bn as employee benefits in 16 months

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited paid a total of  N156.548bn to its workers as employee benefits during a 16-month period that ended on December 31, 2022.

It disclosed this in its just-released Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements for the 16-month period ended December 31, 2022, adding that the company made a total revenue of N8.816tn during the review period.

Recall that the NNPCL made a profit of N2.5tn in 2022, which it described as the “highest profit since the inception” of the national oil firm.

In a very concise one-page document, obtained from the oil firm by our correspondent in Abuja at the time, titled, ‘NNPC Financial Performance,' the company stated that it posted a loss of N803bn in 2018.

This reduced to N1.7bn loss in 2019, which was then followed by a jump to N287bn profit in 2020, while the company described this as its “turning point.”

In 2021, the oil firm's profit grew to N674.1bn. It said this was “assurance,” adding that the profit continued to rise, hitting N2.5tn in 2022. The national oil firm said the N2.5tn was its “highest profit since inception.”

Meanwhile, an analysis of the full financial statements of the oil company on Saturday, showed that NNPCL paid N156.548bn as employee benefits during the 16 months, while the cash it generated from operations was put at N4.818tn.

Although the actual staff strength of the oil company could not be ascertained on Saturday, it was established that in May 2020 the firm disclosed that its employees were a little above 6,600.

It had stated at the time that it had 6,621 workers both at its headquarters and across all its subsidiaries, divisions and offices nationwide.

The firm disclosed this in its report of compliance with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative's open data requirements released in Abuja.

Further analysis of the latest financial report showed that the income tax paid by the firm was N102.56bn; proceeds from the sale of property, plant and equipment, N90.74bn; purchase of exploration and evaluation assets N165.64bn; and purchase of oil and gas properties, N984.24bn.

The national oil company pointed out that the net cash used in investing activities during the 16 months was N2.148tn, as the net cash used in financing activities was N6.4bn; while cash and cash equivalents on December 31, 2022 was N2.3tn.

The report showed that the group's revenue as of December 31, 2023, was N8.816tn; profit before income tax, N1.806tn; while income tax credit was N717.074bn.

It stated that the profit for the period was N2.523tn, while the total comprehensive income for the period was put at N4.683tn.

NNPCL, PIA

NNPCL is a state-owned oil corporation established in 1977 and the largest asset holder within the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

It is currently commercially driven, a development that took effect after the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act by former President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2021.

In November 2023, the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, said the company was expecting over N2tn in its corporate profit after the release of its Annual Financial Statement for 2022.

A statement issued by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPCL, Femi Soneye, at that time, stated that Kyari disclosed this when he led a delegation from the oil company on a courtesy visit to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, at the National Assembly in Abuja.

Kyari had explained that with the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, NNPCL's profitability margins had risen, growing from a loss position of N803bn in 2018 to a profit position of N674bn in 2021.