The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) recorded a 48 percent decline in profit after tax in July, as lower crude oil sales and weaker gas output reduced its financial performance during the month.
NNPCL’s profit after tax fell to N279bn in July from N535bn recorded in June, while revenue dropped by 31.5 per cent from N4.38tn to N3tn.
The company’s July performance was affected by a decline in crude oil sales, which fell to 21 million barrels during the month.
NNPCL attributed the reduction in crude volumes to several operational challenges, including facility outages, equipment unavailability, pipeline incidents, and other production constraints affecting its operations.
Despite the weaker earnings and revenue, the company increased its statutory payments to the federation. Payments rose to N1.63tn in July from N1.43tn in June, bringing total statutory payments between January and July to N7.91tn.
The increase in federation payments comes amid the implementation of Executive Order 9, signed by President Bola Tinubu earlier in 2026. The order removed NNPCL’s previous authority to deduct certain statutory obligations at source, including the 30 per cent Frontier Exploration Fund and 30 per cent management fees.
NNPCL said it is implementing measures aimed at recovering production and improving operational reliability following the decline recorded in July.
The company plans to strengthen preventive maintenance, reduce unplanned downtime and improve the reliability of key production facilities.
It also identified efforts to optimise exports at the Forcados Export Platform and Nembe Export Project, alongside the development of incremental production opportunities, as part of its recovery strategy.
NNPCL further plans to improve crude evacuation through tandem offloading operations at the Akpo and Erha fields and the restoration of barging operations at Obodo.
The company’s gas business also recorded a decline during the month. Gas sales fell to 4,581 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) in July from 4,970mmscf/d in June, while gas production stood at 7,489mmscf/d.
Beyond its immediate production challenges, NNPCL provided updates on major gas infrastructure projects expected to support future supply.
Construction and installation work on the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas Pipeline was described as being at an advanced stage, with the company targeting the delivery of early gas to Abuja in 2026.
NNPCL also said pre-commissioning activities for the River Niger crossing of the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben Gas Pipeline had been completed, with first gas targeted for August 2026.
The July results highlight the impact of lower crude sales and operational disruptions on NNPCL’s earnings, even as the company continued to increase its statutory payments to the federation and pursue measures to restore production and strengthen its infrastructure.