The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has reported a sharp decline in its profit after tax, which plummeted from ₦905 billion in June to ₦185 billion in July. This represents a staggering 79.6% drop, raising fresh concerns about the sustainability of earnings despite marginal growth in production.
According to the company’s latest monthly report released on Thursday, revenue also fell slightly to ₦4.41 trillion in July, compared to ₦4.57 trillion recorded in June. Historical data shows that profit after tax stood at ₦1.05 trillion in May and ₦926 billion in April, making July’s figure the steepest decline in recent months.
In contrast, crude oil output edged upward from 1.68 million barrels per day in June to 1.7 million barrels per day in July, while natural gas production rose to 7.7 billion cubic feet, up from 7.58 bcf the previous month.
Despite the earnings setback, NNPCL highlighted progress in its infrastructure drive. The Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) gas pipeline reached 96% completion, while the Obiafu–Obrikom–Oben (OB3) gas pipeline project stood at 83%. The company noted that upstream pipeline availability maintained a 100% performance rate, underscoring operational stability.
For the OB3 River Niger Crossing segment, NNPCL said it adopted a revised execution strategy to accelerate completion. Already, the 113 km portion of the OB3 gas pipeline has been commissioned, transporting about 300 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) of gas from producers including AHL (250 mmscf/d), Platform, Chorus, and Xenergi (50 mmscf/d).
The report further revealed that statutory payments between January and June totaled ₦7.97 trillion. NNPCL stressed that it would continue to optimize crude and condensate production, improve facility uptime, and strengthen collaboration with stakeholders to safeguard efficiency.