Page 15 - AfrOil Week 43

AfrOil PERFORMANCE AfrOil

Meanwhile, accumulated losses amounted state-owned but will have no access to state
to NGN1.5 trillion for NNPC Group and funding.
NGN474bn for NNPC Corp. in 2019, the For its part, NNPC’s current management
auditors stated. In 2018, accumulated losses team appears to have fewer doubts about the
came to NGN1.6 trillion for NNPC Group and existing entity’s viability. The 2019 AFS includes
NGN490.7bn for NNPC Corp., they noted. the following note from Hadiza Comassie, Sec-
As of the end of last year, the auditors added, retary and Legal Adviser to the NNPC: “The
NNPC Group’s liabilities exceeded assets by directors assess the group’s future performance
NGN4.4 trillion, while the figure for NNPC and financial position on an ongoing basis and
Corp. was NGN1.1 trillion. This represents a have no reason to believe that the group will not
widening of the gaps recorded (NGN3.3 trillion be a going concern in the year ahead. For this
for NNPC Group and NGN968.7bn for NNPC reason, these audited annual financial state-
Corp.) at the end of 2018. ments are prepared on a going concern basis.” ™
“[These] events or conditions, along with
other matters ... indicate that a material uncer-
tainty exists that may cast significant doubt on
the group and corporation’s ability to continue
as a going concern,” the auditors wrote. “Our
opinion is not modified in respect of this matter.”
The auditors did not comment on the pros-
pects for changes in NNPC’s structure. Nigeria’s
federal government is currently working to
secure the passage of the Petroleum Industry
Bill (PIB), which calls for NNPC to be restruc-
tured. This legislation calls for the company’s
administrative responsibilities to be assigned to
new state agencies and its operational respon-
sibilities to be assigned to a new commercial
entity known as NNPC Corp., which will be Nigeria’s government aims to restructure NNPC (Photo: File)

Angolan oil minister says keeping

production levels up is “top priority”

ANGOLA ANGOLA’S Minister of Mineral Resources, the government was working with international
Petroleum and Gas Diamantino Azevedo has oil companies (IOCs) to ensure the continuity
said that he sees stemming production declines of upstream operations. As an example of this
as the most important task for the country’s oil co-operation, he pointed to the move by ANPG,
industry amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19) which acts as concessionaire for Angola’s oil and
pandemic. “Mitigating the natural decline of gas fields, to extend the licences granted to the
production represents one of the largest chal- operators of Block 14, 15, 17 and 18.
lenges of the sector, and therefore it is our top
priority,” he was quoted as saying in “Angola
COVID-19 Response,” a report published last
week by Africa Oil & Power (AOP).
In the report, Azevedo noted that his min-
istry had developed a four-part plan for sup-
porting the upstream oil sector going forward.
This plan calls for facilitating investors’ access
to promising new sites, improving the quality
of and access to geological information, suc-
cessfully making use of the General Concession
Award Strategy and stepping up exploration
work, he said. These efforts will complement the
ministry’s new approach to marginal fields and
push to develop downstream projects, he added.
AOP’s report also quotes Paulino Jerónimo,
the head of Angola’s National Agency of Petro-
leum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG), as saying that Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas Diamantino Azevedo (Photo: APO)

Week 43 28•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P15