TheCable

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it deducted N152.85 billion as a shortfall for the importation of petrol (subsidy) in November 2022.

The national oil company said this in its monthly presentation to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting on Wednesday, January 17, 2023.

Subsidy or under-recovery is the underpriced sales of premium motor spirit (PMS), better known as petrol.

The FAAC document, obtained by TheCable, shows that due to deductions for subsidy payment, the oil company had zero contribution to the federation revenue account in the month under review.

In January, February, and March 2022, petrol subsidy payments gulped N210.38 billion, N219.78 billion, and N245.77 billion, respectively. In April, May, and June, the country spent N271 billion, N327.07 billion, and N319.18 billion, respectively.

Also in July, August and September, and October, subsidy gulped N448.782 billion, N525.714 billion, N341.937 billion, and N239.411 billion, respectively.

With a plan by the federal government to spend N4 trillion on under-recovery in 2022, the NNPC has, so far, spent a total N3.302 trillion on petrol subsidy in 11 months.

“The NNPC Limited deducted the sum of N152,852,247,197.02 as PMS value shortfall recovery for the month of November, 2022. This brings the cumulative deduction between January and November 2022 to a total sum of N3,302,465,705,596.30,” the document reads.

Experts have said subsidy payment is one of Nigeria’s biggest challenges as it continues to deny the country of profits from its oil sector.

In August last year, the federal government said it would stop the spend in June 2023.

However, it plans to spend N3.35 trillion on petrol subsidy, as contained in the 2023-2035 medium-term expenditure framework and fiscal strategy paper (MTEF&FSP).