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Nigeria’s state-owned oil company saw revenues drop 20% to 3.7 trillion naira ($ 9 billion) in 2020, a year when the economic shock of COVID-19 caused the price of oil to plummet in the markets global, according to new financial statements released.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) saw its gross profit fall 91% to 64.7 billion naira ($ 158 million) in 2020 from 2019, according to data.
The release of the statements comes two weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari announced that the NNPC achieved a net profit of NN287.2 billion in 2020, saying it was the company’s first net profit in 44 years. of history.
Buhari did not provide any further details at the time, while NNPC chief Mele Kyari said in general terms that the group had reduced costs, improved efficiency and faced lower borrowing costs. .
Detailed statements, audited by three accounting firms, including PwC and released on Wednesday evening, showed the main reason for the bottom line was N713.4 billion ($ 1.74 billion) in net asset write-backs. financial.
A note specifies that the reversals “mainly concern the recovery of amounts receivable from the strategic alliance with the Federation and the recovery of total depreciation on debts which are no longer doubtful”, without further explanation.
NNPC operates production joint ventures with Western oil majors and is also involved in the refining and marketing of petroleum products. It has published few details about its finances for most of its history.
Anti-corruption activists have long called for the NNPC to be more transparent, and last year it released audited accounts for 2019 in what it called a historic first.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Fikayo Owoeye and Libby George, edited by Estelle Shirbon and Elaine Hardcastle)
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