Nigeria’s state oil company recorded a sharp decline in profitability in July, even as it posted strong gains in statutory remittances for the year.
According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPC Ltd.) Monthly Report Summary for July 2026, released on Tuesday, Profit After Tax (PAT) fell to N279 billion, down from N535 billion in June.
Revenue also declined over the same period, dropping to N3,087 billion in July from N4,389 billion the previous month.
The dip in earnings coincided with a fall in output. Crude oil and condensate production averaged 1.68 million barrels per day (mmbopd) in July, compared with 1.72 mmbopd in June, while natural gas production eased to 7,489 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) from 7.841 mmscf/d.
Despite the weaker financial and production numbers, NNPC recorded progress elsewhere. Cumulative statutory payments for January to July 2026 rose to N7,913 billion, up from N6,286 billion for January to June, a month-on-month increase of N1,627 billion.
Upstream pipeline availability was also sustained at 100 percent for a second consecutive month, which the company attributed to improved reliability across key evacuation infrastructure.
At the retail end, PMS availability across NNPC Retail (NRL) stations stood at 52 percent. On pipeline infrastructure, the OB3 line maintained 100 percent availability, while the AKK pipeline recorded 95 percent.
NNPC said its production improvement strategy going forward would centre on sustaining facility uptime through preventive maintenance and minimising unplanned downtime.
Key initiatives listed include optimising export operations at FEPL and Nembe EP, unlocking incremental production opportunities across its portfolio, and reinforcing operational reliability at critical facilities.
The company also disclosed plans to activate tandem offloading operations at Akpo and Erha to boost export flexibility, alongside the restoration of barging operations at Obodo to support production evacuation and sustain output levels.
On major pipeline projects, NNPC said construction and installation works on the AKK pipeline are at an advanced stage, with early gas delivery to Abuja targeted before the end of 2026.
Separately, pre-commissioning activities on the OB3 River Niger Crossing have been completed, positioning the project for First Gas in August 2026.
In its social investment update, the NNPC Foundation reaffirmed its partnership with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to advance youth entrepreneurship under the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme.
Since 2023, the Foundation says it has delivered financial literacy training to more than 1.3 million corps members and supported 531 beneficiaries with start-up packs and business grants.
Both organisations said the renewed partnership would focus on deepening financial literacy, expanding enterprise support, and strengthening youth engagement, with digital innovation and data-driven impact measurement deployed to position corps members as job creators and future business leaders.
